Discoveries
by Reader115
Summary: Begins shortly after 'Legacy'. Uncontrollable special abilities, a coma, poisoning, turtlenapping, and many many discoveries concerning foxes, the resistance, and a certain rabbit. 8th story in the Promise series. Warning: T-cest (LeoXRaph). I don't own the turtles.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Some of you may have already read this chapter. I going to leave it as a one-shot (Goggles), but I'm also including it here just because I can and I also like how it sets up the timeline a little bit.**

 **The good news, if you've already read 'Goggles', is that I'm posting chapter 2 right now with it so feel free to skip ahead.**

* * *

Leo slid down the fire escape into the alley and then snuck into the back door of the building. He bypassed the familiar shellcycle and moved silently into the garage's workspace.

He frowned as the garage initially appeared empty, despite the loud music coming from the radio. He moved around some of the vehicles until he came upon his mate's muscular legs sticking out from under a small white Honda. He smiled as he watched Raph's toes tap along to the beat.

The toes stopped moving suddenly and Leo heard a loud curse-filled growl echo out from under the vehicle.

"Hey, Case, I need those locking pliers back," Raph called out, as he moved himself back far enough to just thrust an open-palmed emerald hand out from under the car.

Leo looked over at the closest table of tools and eyed each one, trying to decide if any of them were locking pliers. He shrugged, picked a tool up at random and placed it in Raph's waiting hand.

"This is a socket, moron," Raph said. "You better not have lost my pliers." He pushed himself out from under the car but quickly lost his glare and smiled in surprise to find Leo.

"Moron?" Leo asked, to which Raphael only huffed out a laugh as he continued to grin up at him.

Leo crossed his arms and tried to glare at Raphael, although he was becoming quickly distracted by the hard plastic safety goggles Raph was wearing. He'd never seen Raph wear the goggles, or any kind of protective gear for that matter. And between the goggles and the way Raph was sprawled out on the floor in front of him, he quickly lost the glare and even lowered his arms back down to his sides.

Raph pushed himself off the ground and grabbed a towel to wipe some of the grease off his fingers. He glanced back over at Leo and froze when he noticed Leo's darkened blue eyes examining him.

"What?" he quickly asked even though he _knew_ what those dark eyes meant. He _knew_ that Leo found him attractive. If he was being honest, just the thought of how much Leo wanted him sometimes added an extra swagger to his step. But he had to wonder what was causing that sudden glint of lust in Leo's eyes right at this moment when he was pretty sure he was covered in dirt and motor oil.

He watched though as Leo suddenly stepped back behind another vehicle as Casey appeared in the doorway between the garage and the front office.

"Hey, Raph, April and I are goin down the street for lunch. Ya want us to bring ya back anything?"

Raph glanced at Casey and then turned back to Leo as he realized Leo had stepped back so that he wouldn't be seen when Casey appeared. He watched as Leo's dark blue eyes caught his eyes.

"Nope, I've got lunch right here," Raph responded as he kept his eyes locked with Leo's.

"K, see ya in a few."

Leo waited until he heard the key turn in the front office door before surging towards Raphael. He cupped Raph's face with his hands and quickly had his tongue pushed into Raph's mouth. Raphael returned the kiss eagerly with a moan and lifted his hands to run them along Leo's arms.

Leo pushed himself forward and felt a churr rise up his throat as he heard Raph's shell hit the car behind them. His hands slid down Raph's sides and he pushed one of his legs between Raph's legs so that Raphael soon felt an already impressive bulge rub against his own lower plastron.

Raph felt a churr roll up his own throat as Leo's fingers quickly captured his tail. The fingers weren't there to tease his tail, however, only to move it aside and Raphael released a loud groan as one of Leo's fingers pressed into him. A frantic, needy Leo was always one of his favorite kinds of Leo. Raph was distracted, though, as he heard his shell scrape against the car again. He'd just returned to work after being down with a cracked shell for what had seemed like an endless number of weeks and the garage was swamped. He didn't have time to buff scrapes off this car.

"Hold – hold on," he gasped out, as he felt Leo's finger press in further instead of waiting. He actually heard a small growl from Leo as Leo's mouth moved to his neck and Leo pressed his body harder against Raphael. Leo was making this difficult, but Raph realized his response to rub his own plastron back against Leonardo wasn't helping his case. He glanced around and grinned as he began to pull Leo sideways. He heard Leo actually make a noise that resembled a whine as he was moved and Raphael quickly covered Leo's lips with his mouth and pressed into the kiss to try to placate him. He freed one of his hands from Leo's sides and began to fumble around behind his own shell until he reached the latch he wanted so that he could quickly slide open the side door of the minivan that was currently waiting for him to change its oil.

Raph was falling backwards anyway, but Leo shoved forward and pressed Raph's shell into the carpeted floor of the van while he moved to stand between Raph's legs. He took a moment to run his hands over his mate's muscular thighs before he slid two fingers into Raphael with one hand and moved his other hand to rub over Raph's slit until Raph released himself with a loud groan.

Finally free to fully enjoy himself, Raphael's eyes slid shut as he felt heat pool in his belly and begin to spread out to his limbs.

Leo watched Raphael relax into the pleasure that he was more than willing to provide his emerald turtle. Another churr rolled up his throat as he listened to Raphael's moans echo off the walls of the garage. He pulled both hands away from Raphael and smiled down at Raph when Raphael opened those green eyes to peer up at him. He let one of his hands drop down next to Raph's head to support himself and let his other hand trace leisurely up Raph's golden plastron as he leaned forward to kiss Raph again.

Raphael relaxed into the kiss as well. He was beginning to wonder where Leo's previous frantic energy had gone when the hand on his plastron disappeared and he suddenly felt one of his thighs lifted in order to spread his legs wider as Leo's lips also left his mouth and moved down to his neck again.

He actually released a loud gasp as he felt Leo's teeth bite into his neck as Leo's previously neglected length was thrust into his body. The bite was a primitive move to hold him in place and whether they were advanced turtles or not, Raph fucking loved it. He continued to groan out in appreciation as one of his wrists was pinned to the carpeted floor of the van as Leo began to pound into him. Raph listened to Leo's own soft groans as Leo began to hit right _right_ there. He tried to throw his head back and heard Leo growl again as his teeth bit down harder on Raph's neck skin before finally releasing him.

"Mine," Leo growled as he increased the speed of his hips and watched as his emerald turtle writhed and moaned beneath him.

"Yes, Leo. Fuck, yes," Raph somehow managed to respond in between his own loud moans.

Leo's hands were busy supporting himself and keeping Raphael pinned to the floor, so he dipped his lower plastron down far enough to allow it to trap Raph's waiting length in the middle of the friction that came every time he rocked into Raph's body. He watched Raph's eyes squeeze shut at the new sensation as an even louder moan left his emerald turtle. Leo returned his attention to Raph's gorgeous emerald neck and he began to lick his way across it before picking a new spot to clamp his teeth into.

"Fuck, Leo!" Raph roared out as the heat that had invaded his limbs turned to flames and the convulsions from his release were seemingly made more apparent by the restraints on his neck and pinned wrist.

Leonardo listened to Raph's loud shout and felt Raph clench down around him as he managed to bite down harder as his own release had him seeing white spots before he finally collapsed down on Raph's plastron. He released Raph's neck but swiped his tongue over one of the bite marks, which made Raph shiver and led Leo to smile again.

"Needed you," he rasped out to Raphael.

"No shit," Raph said with a chuckle. "Did ya stop by for any other reason?"

"No."

Raph laughed again. "Ya stopped by just to attack me? Even though Case and April were gonna be here?"

Leo grinned into Raph's neck. "I may have called April and asked her to take Casey out to lunch."

"Damn, Fearless," Raph said, secretly pleased to know that Leo had set up a private moment for the two of them.

"Was thinkin about you earlier," Leo said, still panting slightly. "Realized I wasn't going to be able to wait till tonight."

Raph's limbs still felt weak but he did his best to wrap his arms around Leo's shell for a squeeze.

"I'm glad you couldn't. You feel free to attack me any time you want," he said with a smile as Leo finally lifted his head to meet his eyes. Leo's eyes were soft in a way that only Raphael got to see. He drank in those blue eyes and slid one of his hands to the back of Leo's neck to pull his face down for a slow kiss, which he was sorry to eventually break.

"They're gonna be back soon."

"Yeah," Leo said, slowing pushing himself up. He paused and looked down at Raphael again. "Do you have a spare set of safety goggles?"

Raph was confused for a moment until he remembered that he still had on the pair he wore whenever a vehicle forced him underneath it to change the fluids. It had only taken one instance of an oil leak in his eyeballs before he decided maybe he should wear the damn things.

"Why? Did we crack these?" he asked, reaching up to pull the goggles off in order to examine them.

"No, those are fine," Leo said. "I just think you should bring a pair home."

Raph chuckled as he realized Leo's intentions for the spare pair. "Seriously?"

Leo hummed in response and lowered his face to kiss Raphael again. His head jerked up when he heard the key in the front office door again.

"Bye, takara," he whispered and managed to smirk at Raph's scowl before he was off the emerald turtle and out of sight.

Casey found Raphael under the white Honda when he walked back into the garage. He grinned to himself as he thought of the lunch date he and April had just had and didn't think to ask Raph why he was still working on the same car from earlier.

"Hey, ya get started on that van yet?" he called over to Raph as he checked their work board.

"Yeah, I was pretty _busy_ in it while you were off enjoyin yer lunch hour," Raph replied, doing his best to grumble. He let a wide grin spread across his face that he was thankful Casey couldn't see.

* * *

A/N: Takara = treasure. Otherwise known as the nickname Leo always tries to pull on Raph.


	2. Chapter 2

Woody tried to mimic Leo's side plank pose and quickly tumbled onto the ground when the strength in his arm gave out. He looked up as Leo offered a hand to help him to his feet.

"We'll work up to that one."

"Sure," Woody said, doing his best not to roll his eyes. "Just like we'll work up to every single balance pose."

"Let's just do some seated folds," Leo said, sitting down on the matted floor of their dojo. He waited until Woody finally sat down across from him before stretching his legs out and beginning a slow forward fold.

Woody was having balance issues. And his strength had decreased. Part of his prescribed recovery involved physical therapy, although he declined the hospital's program when Leo had offered to work with him. So Woody rose early and met Leo in the dojo a few mornings every week before the rest of the family arrived for morning practice. Leo had asked Donnie to help him research some traditional physical therapy, but he'd also taken to running through a number of yoga poses with Woody to help increase his strength and balance.

"Why doesn't Mikey come up here with you?" Leo asked. They'd only begun this routine a couple weeks ago but Mikey didn't arrive until it was time for morning training.

"Because I don't want him to see me fall over during triangle," Woody huffed out as he tried to keep his back straight as he folded towards his feet. He even got to lean on a block during triangle and fell every time anyway. "There's no reason I should end up on the floor every time."

"Your back is rounding at the top-,"

" _Your_ back is rounding at the top," Woody quipped with a quick smile. Even with his foul mood, he couldn't help making the joke in regards to Leo's rounded shell. Every. Single. Time.

Leo smiled at him in return, especially as he watched Woody straighten his back. "And triangle is not the simplest pose for anyone. Plus-,"

"I can barely do a down dog without feeling dizzy and swaying, Leo," Woody said, cutting him off.

"I know this is hard, Woody," Leo said as he eyed Woody's droopy shoulders. "But staying where you are right now would be harder, right?"

The dojo door opened and Michelangelo slipped inside. He quickly smiled when he spotted Woody on the mats with Leo.

Woody returned the smile before he turned back to Leo. "Yes, oh wise one," he said.

"I'm going to drag Mike up here anyway just to keep you in a better mood," Leo muttered with a smirk. "You want to try some katas with us during today's practice?"

"Pass," Woody grumbled. He lifted a hand to the back of his head and ran it over his new scar. His stitches had come out so he didn't have to wear the excessive head bandages anymore. And there was even hair growing back over where the doctor had made the incision, although with his mop of curly hair covering the surgery site, no one could even see the shaved area. He wished the rest of him would hurry up and recover as well.

The dojo door opened again and Leo watched as Raphael and Akito entered the room. He was thinking of Woody's obvious frustration and flashed back to waking up with a busted knee in a bathtub after a three month coma. He'd been pretty sure back then that his leg was never going to recover.

"You just had _brain_ surgery, Woody. Its ridiculous to think you wouldn't have any side effects." He glanced over at Raphael again and watched as Raph raised an eye ridge in return. Raph had been extremely optimistic, especially for teenaged Raphael, in helping Leo with his own recovery back then. He turned back to Woody. "Hey, do you want Raphael to set you up with a weight lifting regiment to help get some strength back that way as well?"

"Now who's being ridiculous?" Woody muttered as he pictured his arms collapsing followed by his strangulation under one of Raphael's weight bars.

Leo kept his laugh in as he quickly pictured exactly what Woody was thinking. He kept his face serious. "I'm just saying I know how it feels to come back after a serious health set-back. You can't give up. This will get easier."

Woody was pretty sure he'd never been the focus of one of Leo's infamous lectures before. Mikey complained about them, and Woody thought maybe if he had to listen to them all the time, this would be annoying. But for now, he smiled and nodded at Leo despite himself.

He stood and moved to Mikey's side to say good morning to his freckled, smiling turtle. He tried to smile as he watched Mikey's eyes scan over his face. He wasn't used to being crabby. And the crabbiness was making him even more irritated with himself, which seemed to only lead to a further bad attitude. He'd even snapped at Mikey. Although he'd rather cut his tongue out than do that again after the shocked and sad look he'd seen on Mike's face.

He moved off to the side and watched the rest of the family during practice. Mike had forgiven him for being cranky. Leo said his attitude was normal. But Woody felt like he was failing at recovery. And at being Mikey's husband. And at being himself. Basically everything. He sat scowling until he noticed Mikey glancing over at him and then quickly lost the scowl and plastered a smile on his face.

Mikey stepped out of line and beelined towards him. He pulled Woody up by the upper arm and dragged him out into the hallway.

Leo watched them go without asking questions. He led the group through the remainder of their katas, but instead of breaking into sparring partners, he gave Raph a quick nod.

"I made ya somethin," Raph said, grinning at Akito before he ducked into Leo's meditation room. He dragged the new practice dummy he'd been working on out into the main dojo and hung it up at one end of the room. He'd never been much help with any of Akito's school assignments, but this - this was his specialty.

Leo smiled at Raph's obvious pride as he turned to Akito. "We need to work on focusing your energy on one specific target. You know, instead of anyone who happens to be nearby."

"Well, I think that's our cue to leave," Casey said, pushing April towards the door.

"Yeah, and its time for me to get to the lab," Donnie said.

"Father is waiting on me for breakfast as well," Miwa said, quickly following the others out.

Raph smirked as he watched them all go. Although, he couldn't blame them. They probably wouldn't be such wimps if Leo hadn't used them all as guinea pigs to test out the range of Akito's impressive energy in recent morning practices.

He swung his eyes back to Leo and watched Leo's determined face as he quietly spoke to Akito. Leo hadn't even waited until he was fully recovered from the explosion before he had both Akito and Machi piled in their bed with them so the kids could explain, _in_ _explicit detail_ , how exactly the two of them had managed to get captured by the wolf pack and how exactly they'd managed to escape.

Neither of them had been happy to learn that the kids had both gone off by themselves the day of the explosion, although they recognized that Akito had run off to try to save Raphael and Machi had run off to find Akito.

Leo sat quietly and listened to Machi describe the buzzing sensation she got before something big happened and to Akito as he tried to describe the weird sensation he'd felt in his arms before he watched as everyone in the room had been knocked unconscious.

And now, Raph watched as Akito eyed the dummy he'd set up for him.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," Akito said, although he did feel slightly better about this idea than his dad's previous attempts, which included his actual living family members. Those tests had always ended up with everyone knocked onto the floor while he was left standing alone in the middle of the room. "Maybe you two should go stand in the hall?" he said, turning to his fathers.

"So far your ability only extends out to about a twenty foot radius," Leo said. "We'll just stand far enough away." He felt Raph grab his wrist and pull him farther back to one end of the room.

Akito sighed and turned back towards the dummy. When he'd first attempted to replicate the energy blast, he'd been unable to do it. His dad said it was easy the first time because Machi had been in danger and he had reacted to save her. Trying to pull up the energy without the external stimulus was much more difficult. And now his dad also wanted him to aim?

He sighed again and remembered what had summoned the energy last time during training. Violet wasn't here. He hadn't seen her or her siblings since before the wolf attack. He'd barely been able to talk to her on the phone. And he didn't have a real good reason for why that was. His dad had spoken with their mother and apparently she wanted the bunnies to focus on their schoolwork. Or something. Whatever the reason, he missed her, and it irritated him that she didn't seem to be trying harder to see him.

He felt his muscles twitch and tighten and knew it was working. He tried to focus on the practice dummy as he felt the energy begin to roll down his arms. He pushed forward to release the energy through his hands and flinched in the next second as he heard a loud popping noise.

Leo felt the fingers Raph had wrapped around his arm tighten in response as well right before he quickly crossed the room to assess the damage.

"Pops, I'm so sorry," Akito said, quickly turning to Raphael.

"Were you aiming for the punching bag?" Leo asked. He watched Akito slowly shake his head. "Well, still, you managed to hit only one thing. That's impressive."

Raph grunted as he toed the pile of sand that had accumulated under his busted punching bag.

"Maybe you have to aim to the right to hit something specific?" Leo murmured, more to himself than to Akito, as he also eyed the damage.

"I'm going downstairs," Akito said, turning away from them.

"You could try again," Leo suggested.

"I don't see the point," Akito grumbled as he quickly exited the dojo.

Leo sighed as he watched their son leave. "I don't really know what I'm doing with him, Raph," he said. "We've never known anyone with these kinds of abilities. I've got April trying to work with Machi but April is rusty and I'm not even sure that her and Machi's abilities are comparable."

Raph kept Leo in his corner vision as he moved his fingers over the sad, empty punching bag shell and tried to determine how Akito had busted it. Leo was talking to him but he was also staring off at the far wall. Clue one that Leo was beginning to stress.

"And now Akito is getting frustrated with training. Akito has never been frustrated with training once in my entire history as his sensei."

"I think he's just scared he's gonna hurt someone."

"And what is Akito supposed to do with these abilities anyway?" Leo said, only half listening to Raphael. "I mean, right now he can't use it on patrol without taking out the whole team as well."

"That's why we're tryin to train him to aim," Raph said.

"But what if it's not something that's trainable? What if that energy can't be aimed? What if it's all or nothing full blast?"

Raph straightened and narrowed his eyes at Leo. "What are ya gettin at, Fearless?"

Leo focused his blue eyes on Raphael. "I want to try to find someone who can answer these questions."

"How?" Raph asked, drawing the word out as he continued to frown at his mate. He already didn't like where this was going.

"Well," Leo said, averting his eyes to the mats on the floor. "We know more information now about Akito and Machi's birth families. There has to still be some of their mother's family available for us to talk to." He paused as he felt Raphael continue to glare at him.

Raph advanced towards Leo until Leo's shell was pressed up against the wall behind him. He rested both his hands against the wall on either side of Leo's body to trap him there.

"Let me stop ya right there," Raph growled at him, "because I think yer about to suggest dimension-hoppin again."

"Well, they don't live here, Raphie," Leo said, his voice soft as his eyes teased Raphael.

"I know they don't live here, ya jerk," Raphael said, shaking his head at his mate.

"Don't you think-," he was cut off by Raph's mouth and Raph's tongue as his shell was pressed harder into the wall behind him.

"That's enough outta ya."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're not fooling me, Woody," Mikey said once they reached the hallway. "You can sit and scowl if you want, but don't give me that fake happy."

Woody stared off down the hallway and knew he'd feel the same way if this was reversed. "It's not fair to you that I feel cranky all the time," Woody said. "You deserve happy."

" _Deserve_ is a funny word, dude," Mikey said with a frown, tilting his head as he examined Woody's sad face.

"You know what I mean."

"Do you expect me to be continuously happy all the time?"

Woody bit his lip and eyed Mikey. He'd pulled fake-smile-Mikey aside several times over the past several years to check in with him. Usually, Mike just needed permission to feel upset and vent, but once he did, he was back to his typically happy self. Woody had even used that exact line on Mikey more than once.

"I know what you're doing, Mike. And I love you for it. I do. But this feels different."

The dojo door opened and the two of them watched as April, Casey, Donnie and Miwa suddenly appeared.

"Leo trying to use you guys as guinea pigs again?" Mikey asked, smiling at their hasty exit.

"No, we just have very important things that need our attention. Our immediate attention," Donnie said, before he gave a quick wave and disappeared into his apartment.

"I'd find something else to do," April said to them before she and Casey headed to the stairwell.

"Just don't go back in there," Miwa said before she walked down to their father's apartment.

Mikey turned back to Woody. "Different how?" he asked, jumping right back into their previous conversation.

"I feel broken."

Mikey considered this for a moment before he spoke again. "Even broken crayons color, dude."

It was said softly and got Woody's attention back on Mikey's freckled face. He leaned into Mikey and rested his head on Mike's shoulder. Mikey nuzzled his face into the side of Woody's curly blonde head.

"I don't think you're broken, Woods. I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself to already be fully recovered."

Mikey felt Woody relax against him but kept his hands at his sides. Mikey's hands had never looked so large and he'd never felt so clumsy until Woody had come home from the hospital. He'd become extremely worried that he was going to somehow hurt him. He figured Woody had already been through enough, not only with the surgery, but Woody had long ago had to learn how to deal with Mike's hard plastron and the sharp curves of his shell. He wasn't about to make it worse by crushing the poor guy in hugs.

"And you can be as cranky as you want. That fake smile is way scarier than a cranky Woody."

Woody nodded against Mikey's shoulder.

"Plus, it could be way worse. Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?"

"Don't do it," Woody murmured, fighting the smile he could already feel forming.

"He's all right now!"

Woody lifted his face from Mikey's shoulder and Mikey was relieved to see an actual smile on his human's face.

Woody leaned forward and kissed him. He reached for Mike's hands and placed them around his shoulders. He felt Mike hesitate for a moment before those strong arms did as Woody was requesting and pulled him in closer.

Their kiss was interrupted as the dojo door opened once again and they watched as a stormy faced Akito exited.

"You okay, dude?" Mike asked.

"I just killed pop's punching bag. Don't go in there unless you want to get stuck on clean up duty," Akito said before he disappeared into the stairwell.

Woody huffed out a laugh. "Raph and Leo alone behind a closed door. We all know better than to go in there."

Mikey laughed as well and admired Woody's smile. "There's the Woodrow Hamato I know and love," he said. He tilted his head as he thought. "I think you've been cooped up in the hospital and in this building for too long. What do you want do? Name it and we'll go do it."

Woody sighed. "I want to do something normal," he said. "Well, normal for us."

* * *

"I call this meeting to order," Casey said as he banged a wrench against the counter top that he, April and Raph were crowded around.

"Thank you, Casey," April said, taking the wrench away from him as she sent him a pointed look.

Raphael leafed through the pile of work orders April had brought back to run through with them.

"Its good that we have too much work to handle, right?" he muttered.

"Good until they all start to take their business elsewhere," April said. "I've already had to offer special discounts to some of our regulars to keep that from happening."

"I think we should bring Mona back," Casey said.

"How would that work?" Raph asked. Mona, was a twenty-something cousin of Casey's who was apparently handy around engines and who had recently worked in the garage for a few weeks while Raph and his cracked shell had been stuck on bedrest.

"Simple, she just comes here and works on cars," Casey said, shrugging his shoulders.

"And what do we tell her about the giant turtle coworker?" April asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think she'll be fine with it. Plus, she needs the work and we need the help."

Raph frowned and stared at their work orders again. They did need the help. And it was kind of his fault they had such a big backlog.

"We'd have to see what Leo thinks," he said.

"What? Why?" Casey groaned. "Since when do we need _Leo's_ permission for something related to our garage?"

Raphael frowned at him. "Its not about the garage, nitwit, it's about exposure to a human."

"Mona'll be cool. She's _family_ ," Casey said. He watched as Raph continued to frown at him before he let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Run it by the clan leader and let us know what we are allowed to do. Here. In _our_ garage."

* * *

Leo entered their home with Machi after he'd run through a training session upstairs with her and Shadow. He found Raphael cooking dinner in the kitchen and quietly joined him by peering over Raph's shoulder to see what he was cooking.

"Taco Tuesday," Raph murmured over his shoulder.

"I really missed your cooking," Leo murmured back. He wrapped his arms around Raph's middle and nuzzled his face into Raph's neck.

"You didn't enjoy all that extra time with me in bed?" Raph teased.

Leo hummed into Raph's neck and let his tongue trail across one of the more sensitive spots. He heard a churr roll up Raph's throat and smiled as Raph quickly followed it with a gruff exhale and an elbow into Leo's plastron.

"Keep it up and we won't be eating dinner."

Leo laughed and took a step back so he could lean his shell against their island and continue to watch Raph cook.

"How was your day?" Leo asked.

Raph turned to look at him for a moment before he went back to browning the meat for their tacos. "Busy. We're way behind."

"I bet," Leo said with a smirk. "The garage's best mechanic has been out for weeks."

Raph grinned back at him again. "Thanks, babe."

Leo didn't even bother rolling his eyes.

"But, the backlog is pretty bad. Casey wants to bring his cousin Mona in to work with us."

"With you – with you?"

"That's the idea, yeah."

Leo frowned. It wouldn't be the first time any of them worked with humans. Donnie had hired Sam after all. Although, he'd never really planned on meeting with Sam face to face. The fact that Sam and Miwa had been instantly drawn to each other and gotten married last summer had only helped Donatello out business-wise. And Leo worked with humans every day. But the humans brought in to be part of the Hamato ninjas were each carefully vetted by Miwa and Leo met with each of them personally before they officially joined the organization. So far, they'd never met anyone who had an issue with the fact that one of their leaders was a giant turtle.

"What do _you_ think?" Leo asked.

Raph shrugged. "We're way behind. If she did come work with us, it would be for several weeks at least. So it's not like we'd be exposin ourselves for just one week of extra help. Plus, she's Casey's family. He says she'll be cool."

"Okay," Leo said.

"If you don't like the idea, I could pull night shift for a while. Let Mona work with them durin the day and I'll head in once she's gone-,"

Leo stepped forward and wrapped his fingers tightly around Raph's upper arms, pressed his plastron into Raph's shell and rested his head on Raph's shoulder again. "That wont work," Leo murmured.

Raph turned his head towards Leo's face. "Why not?" he asked innocently." He sucked in his breath a moment later when Leo's teeth latched onto his neck. He should know better than to challenge Leo. But it sure was fun to relearn the lesson over and over again.

"Small child and I are coming into the kitchen," Akito announced loudly from the other room.

"I am not a small child," Machi said, swatting Akito's hands away from her shoulders. She'd been about to head into the kitchen when he'd grabbed her and made the weird announcement.

Raphael laughed out loud as he felt Leo's weight leave his shell. He found Leo sitting at the island when he turned around to greet their kids.

There was a quick knock on the door a moment later and Master Splinter entered. He happily greeted his grandchildren and helped Raphael put the rest of the tacos together for everyone. Raphael didn't think their father stopping by for dinner randomly was unusual. But he was surprised when Leo pulled him up from the table at the end of the meal and thanked their father for coming over to stay with the kids.

Leo hugged both kids and told them he'd check in on them later, then pulled Raphael out into the hallway.

"Are you gonna tell me what's goin on?" Raph finally asked as they headed up the stairs.

Leo pushed his emerald turtle's shell into the stairwell wall and covered Raph's mouth with his own. He pulled away, though, just as he felt Raph's arms encircle him.

"Date night," he finally said. "And we have to move or we'll be late."

"Late for what?" Raph asked.

"Come on," Leo said with a grin. They reached their rooftop and Leo took off in a sprint across the rooftops with Raphael following his lead. When they landed on their destination's rooftop, he could see Raphael was still confused and he grinned again. He wanted this to remain a surprise until the absolute last moment.

Raphael crept into the building after Leo and heard the cheers of the loud crowd before they reached the rafters where they took a seat above them.

"I'm surprised ya picked such a public date, Fearless," he said, loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

"Sometimes it's worth it," Leo replied loudly back. He had a small smile and avoided Raph's gaze by studying the large crowd below them.

Raph focused below them as well as the lights went out and flames and strobe lights flashed repeatedly across the empty stage. Members of the band suddenly appeared within the fog and Raph's mouth dropped open as his eyes widened. He turned to Leo and found Leo watching him instead of what was unfolding on stage.

"We're at a Fall Out B*y concert?" he asked incredulously.

Leo's eyes scanned over Raph's handsome, excited face and nodded. He felt Raph's hands on the back of his neck before he even saw Raph's arms move. He was pulled forward into an extremely fast kiss before Raphael turned eagerly back to the stage. Leo couldn't be too disappointed by the short thank you, though, as he half watched the concert and half watched Raphael enjoy it.

Raphael caught Leo's eye about an hour into the show. He scooted closer and closer to Leo until he was physically forcing Leo towards the end of the rafters. Leo grinned and allowed the shoving as Raph moved them further into the darkness until Leo's shell hit a wide column. Raph pushed himself over Leo, forcing Leo to remain pressed back against the column as he lifted a hand and curled it around Leo's neck. He pressed his mouth against Leo's and let their lips move together for a few minutes as music and noise from the crowd continued to roar in their ears. He moved his lips to the side of Leo's face and kissed until he could nuzzle his face into Leo's neck, which pulled a laugh of Leo.

"Aishiteru," he murmured against Leo's ear. He wasn't sure Leo could even hear him over the background noise, but Leo pulled his face back and focused those sharp blue eyes on him and he lost any doubt as he watched Leo mouth _love you_ back to him.

He had meant to shove Leo against this column and pound into him until he could hear Leo's moans over the noise below. But instead he found himself slowly pressing kisses to Leonardo's face as he thought sappy thoughts about how much he loved these moments with Leo.

Leo smiled to himself as he recognized the subtle shift in his secretly sappy emerald turtle's behavior. He used one hand to balance himself on the beam and then ran his other hand across the back of Raph's neck before sliding it down his plastron. His fingers had barely begun to tease over Raph's slit before he felt Raph nip at his shoulder.

Raph growled into Leo's neck as Leo's teasing fingers brought back those earlier thoughts. He grinned as he pulled back and quickly twisted Leo so he was facing the column.

"So you have something to hold onto," he murmured into Leo's ear before he pulled Leo up onto his knees.

He rose to his own knees and his fingers tightened around Leo's hips to steady himself on the rafter as he pulled Leo's hips back towards him. He let his fingers trail over the back of Leo's muscular thighs and then fondled Leo's tail before wetting one finger and pressing it into his mate. He watched as Leo's forehead rested against the column and let himself drop down as another finger was added.

His own hips began to shift forward in anticipation, although he made sure Leo was fully prepped before he finally began to press himself into his mate. He watched as Leo's hands gripped the column as his body was repeatedly rocked forward. He let himself groan loudly and reached a hand around to pump Leo in time with his pounding thrusts. Leo's upper body slumped down further as his hands slid down the column, allowing his hips to suddenly jut further back onto Raphael. Raph churred in appreciation as he was suddenly able to thrust even deeper into his mate's tight, warm tunnel. He leaned over Leo and pumped faster until he felt Leo begin to quake beneath him. He actually heard Leo's final loud moan as Leo thrust himself back once more with his release. He moved both hands back to Leo's hips to steady him on the rafter as he squeezed his own eyes shut and felt his limbs flame in pleasure as Leo's tightening muscles pulled out his own release.

He fell back, unsteady, onto his own rear end and then his shell. He was beginning to think about the real possibility that he may roll right off the rafter, but suddenly Leo was there, over him, pressing his face into his neck and his body into Raph's plastron to keep him safely on the metal beam where they were perched.

He let his head fall back against the beam and wrapped his weak arms around Leo's shell. Leo's panting breaths, which hit his neck with each exhale, matched his own. But it didn't stop Leo from lifting his face and kissing him hard before tucking his face back into Raph's neck.

He smiled as the band began playing another one of his favorite songs and squeezed Leo tighter to him.

"I have so many ideas for romps in public places, Fearless," he rumbled into Leo's ear.


	4. Chapter 4

"So where are we exactly?" Woody asked from the passenger seat of their food truck as Mikey parked it along the curb. Instead of paying attention to the direction they'd gone, he'd spent the whole ride watching Michelangelo as he drove. He wondered if Mike knew that he stuck his tongue out every time he made a turn.

Mikey did a cursory look around outside the truck before he hopped out and ran around to Woody's door in order to open it for him. It was almost midnight and he could tell Woody was tired. He'd almost backed out of the whole plan to just let Woody sleep. But in the end he'd decided that Woody needed out of their building and, unfortunately, this was the kind of thing that Mikey could only pull off in the middle of the night.

Tired or not, Woody grinned at Mikey as he climbed out of the truck, grabbed Mike's hand and willingly followed him into an alley where a side door entrance suddenly popped open.

"Jason!" Woody said, immediately surprised to see their old friend.

"Come in, come in, dudes!" the gecko said, pushing the door open wider as Woody and Mikey slipped inside. "We're all set up!"

"Thanks, Mondo!" Mikey said.

It was already dark, where ever they were, but it suddenly got darker as Mikey's hands covered Woody's eyes. He felt Mikey at his back, pushing him forward and he smiled and walked blindly where he was led.

"Ready?" Mikey whispered in his ear.

Mike's hands left his face and he laughed out loud as he found himself in the middle of what had been his favorite arcade as a kid.

"Okay," Mikey said, suddenly bouncing in front of him. "We've got all the standard arcade games ready to go, plus Leatherhead brought pizza, chicken wings and other snackage, Pigeon Pete is setting up the movie marathon in that corner and we've got several hours before anyone will be here to notice that we're _borrowing_ the space."

Mikey watched as Mondo grabbed Woody's arm and dragged him over to the food table where he was cheerfully greeted with a plate of food from Leatherhead. He watched as Leatherhead asked to see Woody's incision site and laughed when he heard Mondo describe the scar as _gnarly_.

He went to check with Pigeon Pete to make sure the pigeon man understood how to actually start the movie marathon on the gaming system and then snuck behind the counter to grab some of the coins they'd need to play the arcade games.

He was crouched behind the counter when Woody's arms wrapped around his shoulders and Woody's face nuzzled into the side of his neck.

Woody pressed himself against Mikey's shell and whispered, "You're the best, Mikey."

Mikey smiled and twisted around, letting himself fall into a sitting position on the floor.

"Well, you're like one of my top five favorite people," he teased.

"Well, I'm so happy to have made the short list," Woody replied with an eye roll.

Mikey watched as Woody sent him a mock glare and was so relieved to be teasing back and forth with a sincerely happy Woody that he forgot about being worried about crushing him and pulled him into his plastron so he could easily kiss him. He felt Woody sigh into the kiss and ran his hand through Woody's curly hair.

Mike laughed when he pulled back as he noticed that he'd caused Woody's crazy curls to stick up at odd angles. He only laughed harder when Woody, an expert on Mikey laughs, immediately tried to mash his hair back down into place.

"That hair probably pushes you up to the top of my short list," Mikey teased.

"Just my hair?" Woody asked, raising an eyebrow as he leaned in closer to the freckled turtle.

Mikey let his thumb trace down the side of Woody's face. "No, not just the hair."

Woody smiled again and leaned forward to kiss Mike once more.

"You guys gonna join this party or what?" Mondo asked, leaning over the counter to peer down at them.

"Just getting the coins we need," Mike said, tossing one of the rolls he'd found up at Mondo before he stood and pulled Woody to his feet as well.

"Ready for some fun?" he asked Woody.

"As long as it's with you," Woody said, nodding in return.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** : So I was gone for a week for the holiday and I'll admit that when I returned, I didn't jump right back into this story as I had planned. Instead, I had a sudden urge to write a second chapter for my previous one-shot, "Tuxedos" (which I hope you'll read because I really like how it came out). And now that that's all out of my system, I can finally return to the present storyline. Which is my way of saying, I'm sorry for the delay.

Also, over the holiday break I was able to catch up and watch all 4 new episodes of season four of Nickel*deon's turtles (which are the turtles I _loosely_ base these stories on). So, now I feel like I need to add a caveat to my stories. I suppose it's the price I pay for basing stories off an on-going series. So, I'm going to say that the turtles in MY stories are canon _up until_ the triceratons show up. The turtles in my stories have never battled the triceratons. They've never been to space. And Raphael has never fallen for and kissed a salamander. Ahem.

Although, I will say that I loved the end of "The Outlaw Armageddon" – I don't want to give away any more spoilers but Leo self-sacrificing (again) and Raph right there to save him? _Happy sigh_.

Enough rambling. Back to the story. Thanks for sticking with me.

* * *

Raph glanced at the garage clock again and continued to wonder where Leo was. Casey's cousin, Mona, was due to arrive any moment and Leo was supposed to be here before she got here so they could meet her together.

Raph wiped his hands clean on a rag and began to put his tools away carefully, unlike Casey who tended to haphazardly toss his tools in the mere direction of a tool box. But Casey hadn't grown up with Master Splinter and his need for an orderly dojo, including polished and organized weapons.

He pulled his T-phone and hit the speed dial for Leo. The name _Fearless_ popped up with a lion icon picture and Raph began to grumble as the phone rang more times than it should. Finally, right before the voicemail message kicked in, Leo picked up.

"Hey."

"Are ya on yer way?" Raph asked quickly, glancing up at the clock again.

"No," Leo said and Raphael finally noticed that Leo was whispering. "I, uh, I don't think I'll be able to make it."

"What? Why not? And why are ya whisperin?"

"I'll call back when I can talk," Leo whispered back in return.

"Leo," Raph said, too late because Leo had already hung up. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. He had an uneasy feeling but wasn't sure what was bothering him exactly.

"Drumroll please," Casey loudly announced as he entered the garage from the front office with April and a small dark-haired female.

Raphael turned as he tucked his phone back in his belt and braced himself for a freaked out human.

April was bracing herself as well. She still remembered her own reaction when she had met the turtles, although she thought she'd handled it rather well. Plus, she and Casey had already told Mona that Raphael was a mutant turtle and Mona had indicated that she didn't care. But April still wondered about Mona's _actual_ reaction once she was face to face with Raph. She watched now as Mona's eyebrow only quirked upwards and she immediately smiled at Raphael.

"Mona, this is Raphael," Casey said, leaning back against a car.

Raphael watched as well as this tiny human smiled up at him. He glanced over at Casey and considered his tall, lanky frame and wondered how someone so short could be related to him. If he was ever bored, maybe he'd ask Donatello to explain how there could ever be such a height difference between family members.

"Please tell me yer at least strong enough to unscrew an oil cap," Raph said, skipping over all of the polite options for behavior expected when first meeting someone. That was Leo's job. And Leo wasn't here.

But Mona wasn't put off by it and kept her grin as she leaned over the engine of the car he'd been working on and promptly unscrewed the oil cap.

Casey's laugh was loud and Raph shot him a glare. " _That_ , and she even knew which one was the oil cap," Casey said, widening his eyes back at Raphael to signal to him to give his cousin a break.

"They did tell you I worked here part-time while you were out sick, right?" Mona asked as she turned back to Raphael.

Raph stopped glaring but stared down at her, which was a strange vantage point for him with an adult human because, as Casey kept infuriatingly telling him, he was considered short by human standards. "Yer just so tiny," he finally said. He didn't want an earful from April later about insulting Mona because she was a girl. It wasn't that she was a girl. It was that he couldn't see her actually turning a wrench and having anything happen.

"Well that just means there's a lot of places I can fit into," she quickly responded and let her eyes roam over his plastron. It was an interesting golden color and she kind of wanted to touch it to see if it was hard or soft.

"Well, I'm sure that will come in handy as ya help us get outta this mess," Casey said, shooting April a quick look as he swung his arm around at the garage in general.

"So, okay," April said, jumping in as well. She watched as Mona continued to eye Raphael with a strange look in her eye that April was having a hard time placing. "We have to go pick up Shadow. We'll see you tomorrow morning, Mona. Raph, you'll lock up?"

Raphael nodded and moved back to his former work station to put away the rest of his tools as they left. Mona didn't appear to be leaving, so he figured he should at least make polite small talk to make up for his initial rude first impression. "I guess you don't need a tour since you worked here while I was down, huh?"

"Nope," Mona said. "I've already had my hands all over your tools." She watched as his green eyes lifted from his tool chest to meet hers. Unfortunately, instead of enjoying the tease, she noticed that he only looked rather wary of her.

"Why aren't ya freaked out?" Raph asked suddenly. He crossed his arms and frowned at her. He didn't like it when humans ran screaming from them, but this easy acceptance, and even flirtation, was kind of annoying him too.

Mona smirked. "Please," she said as if freaking out was the last thing she'd ever do. "One, I'm not really a freak-out kinda girl. And two, anyone who lives in New York City is well aware that mutants exist. I think it's kind of cool that I finally get to meet one."

Raphael considered her for another moment and suddenly wasn't sure if he should feel like she was conducting a social experiment with him or not. "I'm gonna lock up and go. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Mona said, slightly disappointed to be leaving so soon, although the promise that she'd be back in the morning tempered it. "I think we're gonna get along great," she added as she turned to head out through the garage's back door.

Raphael watched her go before he called out, "Oh, and Mona?"

She twirled around to face him with a smile.

"Bring yer own tools. Keep yer hands off mine."

Mona ignored his scowl and huffed out a laugh. Casey had told her that not only was his business partner a mutant turtle, but also that Raphael wasn't going to trust her easily. She tipped her head at him and turned again to leave, letting her lips pull up in a smile when he couldn't see her face anymore.

Raph double-checked that April and Casey had locked the front office before he pulled on his red helmet on and climbed onto the shellcycle. A few moments later he was underground, racing through the sewer tunnels towards home. He felt himself calm when he spotted Leo's vehicle parked over in its spot and then quickly headed upstairs.

But he was immediately disappointed to find Master Splinter in their apartment, babysitting. Although, he had been told by Leo he wasn't supposed to call it babysitting anymore. Apparently, both kids were now just _hanging out_ with their Grandpa.

"His car is here," Raph said immediately, before the door had even closed behind him.

"He was already out for a run when Miwa called him," his father answered as he scooped rice onto plates and handed them to Akito and Machi to carry to the table. "He called and asked if I could stay longer. He must have literally run over to headquarters."

Raph's phone buzzed and Raph immediately pulled it out to read the text from Leo – _Still stuck here. Going to miss dinner. Home as soon as I can._

He frowned again and typed back a reply – y _er ass better not be in trouble_

Akito handed him a plate where he stood, still only a step inside their front door, and he swiped his phone open when it buzzed with another Leo text – _What kind of trouble could I get into?_

He growled as he pictured the smirk Fearless surely had on his face when he sent that message. Apparently Leo thought funny was a good idea right now. He typed back a quick reply – _don't be a dick_ – before he looked up to find Akito still standing in front of him.

"Is dad okay? You're acting weird."

"He's just stuck at work," Raph replied and he tried to smile at their son. He forced his feet forward and placed his plate on the table. He sat down and sent another smile, or at least he hoped it was a smile, to Machi as well and took a few bites of the dinner his father had prepared for them. He tried to listen to the kids describe their day but his mind was busy trying to figure out what Leo could possibly be stuck doing.

He pulled his phone up again and sent another message – _Are ya out on the streets?_

He set the phone on the table, breaking an unspoken rule, and well aware that Master Splinter was now frowning at him. But he still swiped the screen open when it buzzed again from Leo – _Yes_.

Raphael narrowed his eyes at the one-goddamn-word answer. Leo wasn't supposed to be out on the streets. Leo's job was to train the Hamato ninja and review patrol reports from those ninja. Leo did still patrol occasionally, but only when they could all patrol together. Or at least only when Raphael was out there on the streets as well, even if they weren't in the same patrol group. How long had Fearless even been out on patrol today and Raph hadn't even known about it?

His phone buzzed again and he quickly swiped it open, silently cursing at Leo that this message had better have some more useful information. Instead he got - _Stop worrying. That's my job_.

But instead of calming him, the text only put him more on edge. Leo telling him not to worry always had the opposite effect and he suddenly had the urge to be where Leo was. His mind ran through his options, though. Leader Leo wouldn't appreciate him tracking his T-phone and showing up where ever he was in the city. He thought about going down to the headquarters and waiting there but there was no guarantee Leo was going back there once he was finished with whatever he was doing out on the streets.

He sighed heavily and poked at his rice, resigned to sitting and waiting for Leo to come home.

"How did your meeting go today?" Master Splinter asked, turning the conversation towards Raphael.

Raph's eyes flickered towards his father as he thought back to the introductions with Casey's cousin.

"Yeah, how'd she act?" Akito asked, his chopsticks frozen in mid-air as he asked.

"She seemed okay. Not freaked out."

"I want to meet her!" Machi said, piping up as she struggled to get her chopsticks coordinated around a piece of chicken.

Raph quickly shook his head at her and could only smile at her small pout.

"You do not have concerns now that you have met her?" Master Splinter asked.

Oh he had concerns all right, but he wasn't going to bring them up now.

"I haven't actually seen her fix up anything in the garage yet, but Casey says she knows what she's doing, so it should be good for business."

"You three have done quite well with your business, Raphael," Master Splinter said as he considered Raphael's strange expression. "It's quite impressive, especially in a city not known for being kind to small business owners."

Raphael bowed his head and thanked his father. It meant the world to him that his father was proud of him. But there was something about his father's tone that matched an uneasiness he'd also been feeling about the garage lately.

"Did you hear from Violet today?" he asked, turning to Akito in order to change the subject. Although he immediately regretted the question as he watched his son's shoulders droop.

"No. And, no, I don't know why not. There's not much I can do about it from _here_."

"Here at the table?" Machi asked, tilting her head at him as she heard the strange, unfamiliar tone of voice come out of her big brother.

He glared back at her.

"Hey," Raph said, cutting Akito off before he could say something snarky back to Machi.

Akito hunched down further in his seat and began poking at his dinner.

Raph sighed internally and wished again that Leo was there.

After dinner Master Splinter stayed and helped Raphael clean up as the kids escaped to their respective bedrooms.

"Alright," Raph said, finally, placing his hands on his hips. "I give up. How do you handle a moody teenager?"

"Are you implying that I have had experience with a moody teenager?"

Raph quirked an eye ridge at his father.

Master Splinter huffed out his own small laugh before lifting a hand to run his fingers down his beard. "Surely you recognize how matters of the heart can cause such a shift in personality?"

Raph leaned his shell back against their island. "I'm not sure I can handle a Raph junior, though," he said. "Seriously, how did you put up with me?"

Master Splinter smiled at him. "Training and your brothers kept you occupied. But also…meditation. Lots of meditation."

"Very funny."

"I am not being funny," his father replied as he headed towards the door, although he did look back to smile at his son before slipping out of the apartment.

He moved back into the kitchen and finished cleaning, setting aside a plate of food for Leo, and then called Machi out to brush her teeth before bed. He didn't feel comfortable sitting still, so he moved to one of their windows and stared out at the river and the city lights.

Machi was still in the bathroom when their door opened and Leo ducked inside. Raphael could see him beeline for him in the reflection of their window. He didn't turn around but he did let out a breath he'd been holding as he felt Leo's arms wrap around his shoulders. His own hands reached up to grip those strong arms in return. Happy to have his hands on Leo, he tipped his head back and let it bump into Leo's.

"Kids still up?" Leo asked, his lips brushing against the side of Raph's neck as he spoke.

Raph nodded as the bathroom door popped open and Machi came out. She ran over to Leo when she spotted him and Raph felt the loss of Leo's arms as Leo quickly scooped their daughter up for a hug.

"Let's get you into bed," Leo said as he carried her off. He tucked her in and then headed into Akito's room. Raph had followed him to say his goodnights, although he had ducked out and left Leo to sit and talk to Akito alone. Not that there was much talking going on, as Leo immediately noticed how quiet Akito was being.

"Alright, sulky," Leo said, pulling out Akito's desk chair to sit in. "I'll make you a deal. I'll put you back on once a week patrols, if you stop acting like a stereotypical teenager."

"I thought it was too dangerous for me to be on patrol," Akito said, ducking his eyes so his excitement didn't show.

"Well, if you accidentally knock your team unconscious out on the city streets, just promise me you'll stand guard over them until they wake up again."

Akito glanced up and couldn't help but smile when he saw his dad's big grin.

"It's not really funny," Akito said.

"No its not," Leo said, standing and leaning over to squeeze Akito's shoulder. "But laughing is better than sulking."

Akito nodded as he continued to smile at his dad. He leaned back against his pillow and picked up a book to read. It didn't solve his issue with Violet, but at least it would get him out of this building and get his mind on something else.

When Leo left Akito's room, he found Raphael in the kitchen heating up a plate of dinner, which he gratefully accepted and settled at the island to eat.

"So what kept you tonight?" Raph blurted out, no longer able to keep from asking. He watched as Leo shrugged slightly as he expertly used his chopsticks to quickly eat.

"Miwa went home early," he said around a mouthful of rice. "Asked if I could take over the training run tonight. Strictly surveillance," he said, waving off Raph's outburst about him patrolling before he could voice it. "Bunch of newbies. You should see their sad attempts at distraction and camouflage."

His tone was light but he watched as Raph continued to stare hard at him.

"I'm sorry I missed dinner," he offered. "I had to wait for it to be dark to take them out and then I couldn't really talk because we ran into a robbery." He watched Raph visibly tense and quickly continued, even lifting a hand to soothe. "I stayed back and supervised. Then we waited for the cops to show up." He scooped up some more rice to eat. "There's been a run of activity in that neighborhood. Looks like new gang initiation. Again."

He swallowed the last of his food and met Raph's hard stare again. "You mad at me?"

Raph moved his eyes down to the island countertop. He knew it was ridiculous to be mad at Leo. Raphael had stayed late at work before and missed dinner. He didn't make a habit out of it and neither did Leo. And Leo had just reassured him that he'd only been out on a surveillance training patrol. He'd even sat on the sidelines of a fight, which Raphael was happy to hear, even though he'd admit he was a hypocrite because he himself would have _never_ sat out and missed a fight.

Despite all of this, he was still uncomfortable. But it wasn't fair to take it out on Leo. He shifted his face so that when his eyes rose to meet Leo's again, they had softened and he offered him a smile.

"Come on, Fearless," he said, taking Leo's empty plate and placing it in the sink. "Bedtime."


	6. Chapter 6

Casey thought it was funny. April didn't. And Raph sure as hell didn't. But Casey didn't see the harm in his little cousin having a little crush on Raphael. The Joneses were a good-looking bunch of people if Casey did say so himself and he was pretty damn sure that Raph should feel flattered, although April disagreed with him on that point as well. Admittedly, April was usually right, but he still thought it was funny.

Although, Casey did think that if Mona was going to bring Raphael coffee in the morning that she could at least bring him a cup too, especially since he would at least drank his. Raph had left his sitting on the counter, untouched.

"So, what do you in your free time, Raphael?" Mona asked as she leaned over the engine of the car next to where he worked. She'd been trying to engage him in conversation for the past few days and hadn't been even remotely successful.

Raph sighed internally. Casey had cornered him earlier and said that just because he wasn't known for making friends easily, didn't mean that he should keep giving Mona the cold shoulder. He wanted Raph to give Mona a break.

"I hang out with my husband," he said, using the human term to make his point clear to her, "and our kids." He watched her frown in his peripheral and felt more satisfaction that he probably should've.

She stopped frowning and brushed his statement aside. "Well, I think we should hang out one night. Casey said you used to be a ninja right? You could sneak into my apartment. We'll get Casey to buy the drinks."

"Can't," Raph said as the words _used to be a ninja_ ran through his head. He was already feeling irritated when his T-phone buzzed and he swiped it open to read Leo's text: _Going to be late again. Machi with Don and Sadie._

He frowned as the uneasy feeling from a few days ago crept up his shell again. He glanced at the clock and even though it was early, quickly put his tools away.

"I'm heading out, Case," he called over his shoulder as he pulled on his helmet and jacket. He ignored the strange look Casey shot him, as well as the questioning look Mona directed at Casey and sped off on his bike. He went underground and straight to Hamato headquarters, parking his bike in the sewer before sneaking into the building.

The headquarters was in an old warehouse and although walls had been put up to designate different areas, Miwa had never put in a proper ceiling, and he was able to creep along the rafters and past Donnie's nifty security features until he found Leo and another ninja in Leo's appointed office. Leo sat at his desk while the other ninja leaned over him as they both studied something on the computer screen. Raph sat still for a moment, relieved to find Leo doing regular office work. He couldn't see what was on the computer screen but he could see that Leo looked stressed, with lines actually forming around his eyes as he frowned at the screen. The other ninja leaned over occasionally and would point to something while murmuring to Leo.

Leo sighed heavily and rubbed a hand down his face. The other ninja squeezed Leo's shoulder suddenly as he murmured something else and Raph watched Leo flinch and send the ninja a pointed look. The ninja quickly removed his hand and immediately pointed out something else on the screen. They returned to their review for a few more minutes before the other ninja straightened.

"I'll get the teams together for patrol," the ninja said and Leo only nodded as his attention remained on the screen.

Raphael dropped to the ground as soon as the ninja was out of Leo's office and watched as Leo's surprised eyes lifted to him.

"So you _do_ know how to be a quiet ninja," Leo teased, immediately standing and moving around his desk towards Raphael. He'd been waiting for a response to the text he'd sent Raph and was happily surprised to have his emerald turtle in front of him instead.

"You goin out on patrol again?" Raph immediately asked.

Leo stopped in his tracks at the unexpected harsh tone and tipped his head in question at Raphael. Raph crossed his arms over his plastron. "Yes," Leo said finally. "We've been reviewing police reports. There's a lot of activity in-,"

"Who was that?" Raph asked, cutting him off. He was beginning to feel angry. He could feel it building in his chest and rise up to warm the skin over his neck and face. His emerald hands balled into fists.

"That was Smith. He's one of the senior elites." Leo kept his voice calm and level even though he began to frown as he watched Raph begin to glare at the floor.

Leo moved closer to Raphael when it appeared that Raph didn't have any more questions for him and ran a hand down one of Raph's arms. The muscles beneath his fingers were tense and trembling and Leo frowned harder when he realized just how angry Raph currently was. He wanted to ask Raph why he was upset, but that technique hadn't worked the other night when he'd come home late. Raph had immediately switched gears when he'd asked, dismissing whatever it was that had been running through his head. Instead he'd practically carried Leo off to their bedroom and there hadn't been any further discussions that night.

Raphael was a physical turtle, and for right now, Leo didn't hesitate to close the space between them and grip Raph's upper arms tightly beneath his fingers as he pressed his lips to Raph's lips. He kept the kiss soft but insistent and Raphael's lips responded with practiced ease. Leo waited until the arm muscles beneath his fingers relaxed before he deepened the kiss and pushed his tongue into Raph's welcoming mouth.

He didn't make any further advances from there, mainly because his office door was unlocked, but also because he did want to talk to Raphael this time. He waited until he was sure Raph was completely calmed before he pulled his mouth away and met Raph's green eyes.

Raph rested his forehead against Leo's and took a deep breath. Leo was silently asking him what was wrong. But the truth was, he wasn't sure.

"I don't know," he said, before Leo could verbally ask. He shook his head. "I don't know."

Leo slid his hands up from Raph's arms to the back of his neck and began massaging the muscles there. He watched as Raph's eyes slid shut and he groaned out in pleasure. It still wasn't an answer, but maybe Raph really didn't know. Leo bumped his nose against Raph's nose and then let his eyes roam over his mate's handsome face. He was willing to wait for Raph to find the words.

"Why isn't Miwa takin the ninja out on patrol?" Raph asked in a rather sullen tone that almost made Leo smile. "Isn't that her job?"

Leo released Raphael and pulled his T-phone out to send Miwa a quick text, asking her to come to his office. When he was finished he replaced his hands on the back of Raphael's neck and resumed rubbing at the stiff muscles.

"Akito is here tonight too," Leo told him. "I told him he could come out on this run. I think he really needs it. I'd like it if you came out with us."

Raph opened his eyes and met Leo's sincere blue ones. He nodded to Leo and received a smile and a kiss in return.

There was a quick knock on Leo's door before it opened and Miwa appeared inside.

"You did call me down here," she said in mock exasperation as she eyed the two huddled turtles. "Do I need to come back?"

Leo grinned at her and turned Raph so he was facing her. "Listen to Miwa."

Raph stood and waited and watched as Miwa stood silent and stared back at him. He quirked an eye ridge at her and watched as she glanced at Leo.

"No, Raph. Just listen," Leo murmured quietly from behind him.

It took him another moment to realize what Leo meant. He closed his eyes and pushed his senses out until he could also hear conversations in the rooms surrounding them, but more importantly, he could hear Miwa's heart beating. Although Miwa's heart was almost drowned out by the fast-paced beat of another. His eyes flew open as he grinned widely at Miwa. He knew that sound. It was the same sound they'd all heard from April when she'd been pregnant with Shadow.

Half of Miwa's mouth quirked up in a smile as well as she visibly blushed. "It was supposed to be a secret for a while longer, but Leo's freaky Doppler hearing picked it up earlier today," she said, shooting Leo a mock evil eye.

Raphael scooped Miwa up into a congratulatory bear hug and she squeaked as she was lifted into the air.

"Miwa's been grounded," Leo said as Raphael set her feet gingerly back down on the floor. "Sam stopped by earlier and threatened not only her but me as well if she steps foot out on a patrol."

Raphael turned back to Leo as the ramifications for Leo due to Miwa's pregnancy became clear. Miwa couldn't patrol. Leo was going to have to cover for her. He could feel himself getting tense again.

"I figure I can avoid Donatello and Michelangelo and their freakishly good hearing until family dinner on Sunday night. Do you think you could keep this secret until then?" Miwa asked, jarring Raphael out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," Raph said. "You got it."

* * *

Raph moved easily around Mikey in Mike and Woody's apartment kitchen and dumped the potatoes he'd peeled into a bowl. Mikey didn't let anyone touch his KitchenAid mixer, but he was always thankful to anyone who would peel the potatoes for him. He felt similarly about shucking corn or snapping green beans. He just didn't have the patience for those tasks and Woody usually handled them. But Woody was currently napping, so Raph had stepped in and offered to help Mike cook Sunday night dinner for their clan.

Since the rest of the meal was already in the oven, Raph left Mike and his precious mixer and went in search of Leo. He found most of the clan in the living room, but no Leo. He smiled as he listened to the loud noise of their family, shared a small smile with Miwa and Sam and headed towards the spare bedroom where he finally found Leo sprawled out on his plastron, with his feet pointed towards the doorway. Gabriel sat next to his Uncle Leo and the two each had action figures that they were pretending to fly through the air.

"This is Captain Ryan," Leo was saying to Gabriel. "He's in charge."

"So everyone does what he says?" Gabe asked, flying his two little figures over to attentively listen to Captain Ryan.

Leo heaved a deep sigh that actually made Raph grin from his secret spot in the doorway and said, "Well, no, they don't always do what -," he caught the strange look his nephew was sending him and cut himself off. "Yes, that's right." He stood his figure up in front of Gabe's two figures and said, " _My plan must be followed to the letter_ ," in his best Captain Ryan voice.

"Aye aye, Captain!" Gabriel responded happily as he bobbed his figurines up and down in the affirmative.

"Very good soldiers," Raph said, gruffly, doing his best to keep a straight face and not release the laughter building in his chest.

Gabe jumped up when he spotted his Uncle Raphael and quickly handed over one of the figurines.

"You can be this one, Uncle Raph," he said, excitedly. "Mom brought more, I'll go get them!" The tiny turtle raced out of the room to find the bag his mother had brought, extremely pleased to have another uncle to play with.

Leo pushed himself off the ground and eyed his smirking emerald mate. "Okay, let's hear it."

"What? Nothing," Raph responded quickly, the words practically toppling on top of each other out of his mouth. But without their young nephew's presence, the laughter escaped and he was soon bent over at the waist because of it.

Leo frowned and crossed his arms as he watched Raph stand upright again and pretend to need to catch his breath. "I'm playing with our nephew-,"

"These aren't even space men figurines," Raph said, glancing down at the plastic man he was holding while pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. He moved towards Leo, who tried to take a step back, although he was soon trapped against the spare bed. "Yer lucky I fell for ya before yer Captain Ryan phase, because otherwise, who knows."

Leo tried to scowl but it was hard with Raph's green eyes teasing him.

"Have I told you I love today?" Leo murmured, deciding to go on the offensive. "All of you? Even the part of you that screams _like a little girl_ when you see a bug?"

Raphael smirked. "All of me, huh? So you think I should love yer space dork side?"

Leo lifted one hand and traced his fingers over the lightning bolt scar on the top of Raph's plastron as he listened for their nephew's footsteps to alert them that they were about to have company again.

"I think you _already_ love it," Leo murmured back to him.

Raph's eyes lowered and he watched Leo's fingers trail from his scar down his plastron. Leo's fingertips pressed into the cartilage between the top two scutes and Raph visibly shivered before he grabbed Leo's hand and pulled him in closer to him.

"Well, yer right. I do," he rumbled over to him.

"Yeah?" Leo said, his face actually brightening.

"Of course. Gives me something to tease fearless leader with."

Leo scowled at him and snatched his hand back. They heard Mikey call everyone for dinner and Raph turned away from him to leave the room. But he stopped suddenly and blocked Leo's exit.

"And I do _not_ scream like a little girl."

"I'm pretty sure Donnie has footage that says you do," Leo replied in a lowered voice. He leaned over to cover Raph's mouth with his own before he slipped past Raph. Leo stopped in his tracks when he reached the main room, though, causing Raph to run into the back of him.

"Surprise!" Casey said, kicking the door shut behind him as he entered, his arm draped around the shoulders of a small, dark-haired human female.

The entire room froze and Leo could feel everyone's eyes suddenly land on him to wait for his reaction.

"Casey," he immediately growled.

"I know, Leo, I know," Casey said, throwing his hands up in his own quick defense. "But this is Mona."

"It's nice to meet you," Leo politely said to the petite woman, who he had to admit, as she nodded a greeting back to him, didn't look all that uncomfortable despite the room full of mostly human-sized animals. Good manners aside, he turned back to Casey, "That doesn't mean you bring her into our home!"

"Look, April and I have abided by the _no friends allowed in our own apartment_ _ever_ rule, but Mona is family and she wanted to meet everyone and she's already met _Raph_ ," Casey said, pointing to the turtle standing behind Leo. "So what's the big deal?"

Raph watched as the discussion between the two began to get louder. He pushed on Leo's shell, grabbed Casey's arm and dragged the two out into the hallway and away from the children.

"The big deal is that she's still a stranger to the rest of us and this is our _family_ dinner," Leo said, continuing as soon as the apartment door shut behind them.

"She _is_ family," Casey emphasized back. "And I'm the only family she's got. And I'd like it if she could spend more time with my daughter."

Raph smirked at the ground. Casey obviously knew his only chance for this with Leo was to play the damn family card. He glanced up and eyed Leo as he stood with his arms crossed and his blue eyes glaring fiercely at Casey.

"You should've warned us," Leo finally said and Raph watched a triumphant grin spread across Casey's face.

"She's cool," Casey said, already turning the knob to head back inside. "Yer gonna like her."

The door shut behind him and Leo turned to Raphael.

"Am I going to like her?" He'd been so busy at work that he'd barely asked Raphael how it was going with Casey's cousin at the shop. But his eyes narrowed now as he watched Raphael hesitate to answer him. "Raph?"

Raph met Leo's blue eyes and gave him a half-hearted shrug. He'd only worked with Mona for the past week and although she hadn't done anything too strange, he still felt uneasy around her. But maybe it would be good for Leo to finally meet her. Leo was supposed to have met her by now anyway and Raph wanted Leo's opinion on her. Raph would consider that maybe he was overreacting if Leo gave his approval for the human.

"Great. That's a shining recommendation for a woman who's in there with our children," Leo said in response to the shrug.

"She's not gonna harm the kids," Raph offered.

"Then who is she going to harm?" Leo asked, immediately jumping on Raph's strange choice of words.

There was an uncertainty in Leo's eyes that Raph immediately set out to squash as he pulled Leo into him and immediately initiated a kiss. He'd protect Leo from anything, including being worried about tiny human females.

"Let's get this over with," Leo said after a few moments and he pulled Raphael back into the apartment with him to join everyone else at Woody and Mikey's large table. They ended up seated across from Mona, who Casey had seated next to Shadow, as if to prove his point about creating closer family connections.

April glared at Casey but began the introductions around the table between Mona and the rest of the clan. Then the group proceeded to sit and eat in awkward silence. The addition of a newcomer had everyone, even the children, glancing around at each other instead of participating in the normal animated conversation that they were used to.

Woody glanced at Mikey and raised his blonde eyebrows at him.

"So, Mona, Raph was your first mutant, huh?" Mikey asked. "I'm sorry your first experience was with his ugly mug."

Raph scowled down at Mikey but Mona only shook her head and said, "I'm not. I'm glad to have lost my mutant virginity to Raphael."

Raph froze as he sensed Leo stop breathing next to him. His eyes darted over to their young daughter and he was thankful she appeared to be too busy whispering with Shadow to have noticed what Mona had said.

"So, Sam and I have an announcement," Miwa said, jumping in.

Raph's eyes shifted over to Leonardo and he watched as Leo's eyes moved down to his own lap instead of meeting Raph's eyes.

Miwa hadn't counted on sharing their big news with a stranger at the table, but she wasn't going to be able to hold it in much longer. Plus, she was already starting to show.

She met Sam's eyes next to her and he nodded and grinned goofily at her. The same grin she'd seen from her red-headed husband _repeatedly_ over the last few weeks, ever since they'd been to the doctor to discover why she was suddenly feeling so tired and crummy. She imagined her grin looked a little dopey as well as her eyes zeroed in on her father. "I'm pregnant," she said quickly.

There were loud congratulations around the table, but she watched as her father rested a hand on his own chest before standing and coming around the table to pull her up into a hug.

Leo turned to Raphael, Mona's strange comment already forgotten as he smiled at his favorite turtle. Raph grinned back at Leo, knowing that these were the moments that Leo had always pictured for Master Splinter back when he'd tried so hard to get Karai to join their clan.


	7. Chapter 7

Raphael set the weight bar back in place and sat up on his bench to grab a drink of water. And to enjoy the view that was Leonardo running through some katas on his own. Everyone else had been dismissed from morning training and Raph had decided to stay behind and do some weight training before work. Bonus to being one of garage owners was not worrying about being late.

He glanced down at the bench between his legs. Donnie had stocked the dojo with new items when he'd had the room constructed, and while he'd appreciated the new punching bag, Raph had insisted on bringing up his old, albeit tattered, weight bench from their sewer lair's dojo. He'd been sixteen years old when he'd been called into the dojo one night and all three of his brother had presented him with this very bench. It was weeks later when Raph was helping Donnie carry some big heavy piece of equipment home from the dump that Donnie had let it slip that the bench was really just from Leo, even though Leo had made it seem like the gift was from all three of them. Donnie told him that he and Leo had been on a scavenge run when Leo found the bench. And Leo had talked Donnie into helping him carry it home instead of a large piece of steel that Donnie had wanted to bring home that day. Donnie had continued talking as they walked through the sewer tunnels, telling Raph how Leo had buffed the seat and covered the few tears in the fabric with duct tape himself, not realizing that Raph's eyes were growing wider as Donnie spoke.

After he and Donnie had returned to the lair, Raph had headed to the dojo to lift weights on his new bench. He couldn't stop thinking about the possible meaning of Leo's gift. He wasn't currently in his line of sight, but he knew Leo was in the dojo training as well. A year ago if they'd both been training in the dojo at the same time, the room would've been filled with jokes or a discussion or at least a comfortable silence. But Raphael knew the eerie silence that now filled the room was his own fault. He was the one who had destroyed their relationship. He thought about the decision often. But at this point, still thought it was for the best. For Leo. He sat up once he replaced the weight bar after his final set and spotted Leo running through a kata with his twin katana near the big tree. Raph had sat frozen and watched Leo move gracefully through what appeared to be a pretty advanced and pretty deadly set of steps.

Raph's mouth had gone dry. And his stomach had squirmed. A shiver ran across his shoulders and down his arms. He was young, but he knew what those sensations meant. He wanted his hands on Leonardo. He wanted to rub himself against him and he wanted to know what it felt like to have those impressive muscular legs wrapped around him.

Once Leo had swung a final swipe with his blades, he had bowed to an imaginary opponent before turning towards Raphael. He had seemed startled to find Raph watching him and Raph noticed that the confidence Leo had had a moment before disappeared and Leo's eyes ducked down as he sheathed the katana and turned away from Raph to get a drink and grab a towel for his face.

Raph had tried to pull up anger as he stared at Leo's shell. Anger for any reason. Anything at all. Anything that would keep him from marching across the dojo, spinning Leo back towards him and kissing him. He'd stood from the weight bench and his hands shook slightly. That's when Mikey had bounced into the dojo and began pleading with Raph to play a video game with him. Raph had swatted at Mikey and glanced back at Leo. Leo still stood with his shell to them, but he suddenly began to pull his tatami mat out as if preparing for meditation.

Raph had gone out to play video games with Mikey. He didn't follow his gut instinct on that day or on any of the days in the three years that followed that day. He'd left Leo alone. Physically alone, but emotionally alone as well.

His eyes focused on Leo now in the present with a sharp intensity as Leo stepped and swung seamlessly through a well-known routine. He watched Leo's muscles shift with each move and felt the familiar squirm as desire began to pool in his stomach. He stood and crossed the room without thinking about it.

Leo turned and found Raphael suddenly right in front of him. He smiled as he saw Raph's darkened green eyes and listened to his breathing, the inhales and exhales already quickened by his need. Leo's own inhalations brought him Raphael's scent, already richer. Leo dropped his precious katana on the matted floor and stepped directly in Raph's arms without a word.

Raphael pulled Leo into him, keeping his grip strong on Leo's upper arms, and covered his mouth in a hard kiss, which Leo answered back with equally strong force. Raph kept their lips together but let go of Leo's arms only so he could reach the back of his thighs and lift Leo up into his arms. He churred at the feel of solid muscle against his fingers as he gripped Leo's legs and began walking them across the room. Leo churred in response and wrapped his legs tightly around Raph's shell as he let his fingers press into Raph's biceps.

"Raph," Leo moaned out, rubbing his lower plastron against Raphael. "Strong - you're so strong, Raphael," he husked out and moved his mouth to press kisses to Raphael's face.

Raphael could only groan in response to Leo's praises as he kicked Leo's meditation room door closed with his foot as he sealed them in the private room. Once inside, he lowered Leo back to stand on his own two feet and then stood still himself for a moment. He gave Leo a small smile, one that only Leo ever got to see, and waited.

"Okay," Leo breathed out, accepting Raph's offer.

Raph watched as Leo began to circle him and it was the last thing he saw before his mask was twisted, blocking his vision. Leo's hands were on him immediately, though, squeezing over his arms, trailing over his tail, running down his plastron. Raph couldn't even guess where Leo's hands were going to be next, he just let each sensation hit him and groaned with each press of Leo's fingers.

"Leo," he moaned out and his mouth was immediately covered by Leo's mouth before Leo pulled him down onto the matted floor with him. Raph went down on his shell and felt Leo climb on top of him in order to kiss him again. Then Leo's weight disappeared and Raph resisted the urge to remove his mask so he could see where his mate had gone. He had his answer a few moments later as Leo's warm tongue pressed into the cartilage of his slit. "Jeezus Leo," he said in surprise before he dropped down for him with a groan.

Leo inhaled deeply and let Raphael's scent fill his nose as his length filled his mouth. He pulled Raphael towards his throat and watched as Raphael writhed and shifted beneath him before he pressed a lube-covered finger into Raph's entrance.

Raph's hips jerked upwards at the unexpected wetness, and he smiled at the thought that Leo had left him before only to grab the lube they secretly kept stashed in this room. He began to churr out loud moans and curses, and while he'd always prefer being able to see Leo, he let himself enjoy the sensation of focusing only on the feeling of Leo's mouth wrapped tightly around his hard, full length as Leo's fingers massaged his insides.

He felt Leo churr as well and it was that, above all the other wonderful things that Leo was currently doing to his body, it was the knowledge that Leo truly enjoyed what he was doing to Raphael as much as he did that pushed Raph immediately over the edge with a loud shout of Leo's name.

Leo climbed back up the emerald body once Raphael had reached his release and pressed more kisses to that handsome, panting face. Raph's fingers found his plastron and slid down to rub insistently against Leo's bulging slit, pulling Leo into a pumping rhythm with his fist when Leo dropped down.

"Love you," Leo gasped out to him before pulling away from Raphael's hand in order to press himself into his mate's ready body.

Raph heard Leo's words and his mind returned to his earlier thoughts. Returned to the years when he'd missed his best friend. He was suddenly happy Leo couldn't see his tear-filled eyes as he wrapped his arms tightly around Leo's shoulders as Leo thrust into him and repeated praises for Raph's strong, beautiful body. Leo collapsed down on Raph's plastron with his own finish and, not trusting himself to get the mask lined up correctly with his currently shaky hands, he pulled Raph's mask clear off his face. He watched the green eyes he loved so much open and blink a few times before Raph focused on him.

"Aishiteru," Raph whispered to him. He paused for a moment before he continued in a whisper, "I missed you."

Leo tipped his head at Raphael in question. "The blindfold?"

"No, ya dork," Raph said, huffing out a laugh, despite himself, before turning serious again. "From the day I pushed you away from me to the day you forgave me," Raph said, ducking his eyes before bravely meeting Leo's again. "I missed you. Every day."

Leo cupped Raph's face and kissed him again before he nuzzled his face into Raphael's neck. "Where did that thought even come from?" he murmured, letting his lips press against Raph's skin as he spoke.

Raph shrugged, unwilling to give voice to his earlier memories. He wasn't exactly proud of them. And he selfishly didn't want Leo focusing on that period of time. "I just want you to know how much I love ya, Leo. How much I've always loved ya. How much I will always love ya."

Leo lifted his head and let his blue eyes meet his best friend's eyes. His mate's eyes. His husband's eyes.

"I know exactly how you feel," he said back to him with a smile before he kissed him again. "I love you too, Raphie. Always have. Always will."


	8. Chapter 8

Raph grinned when his T-phone rang the moment he sat down for his late afternoon lunch in the garage's break room. He took a lunch break whenever he got a chance, not at a specific time every day, and Leo had an uncanny ability to know when Raph was free for a phone call.

"What's up, babe?" he asked in a teasing voice.

Leo turned away from the spar he'd been watching in the Hamato headquarters dojo and smiled. He'd long ago given up trying to dissuade Raph from using the nickname. Not that he was going to tell Raph that.

"We didn't really get to talk earlier," Leo said, the smile apparent in his voice as he thought about their morning in his meditation room.

"I'm not apologizing for that," Raph said, quickly with a grin.

Leo laughed outright and stepped out into the quiet hallway before he disrupted the current spar when Miwa shot him a glare.

"Hey, did ya eat yer lunch?" Raph asked as he began pulling his own lunch out. He packed Leo a lunch every day but he wasn't sure Leo always took a break to eat it.

"Tried to."

"What does that mean?"

"Miwa got to it before me. Called it her third breakfast or something ridiculous," Leo said, nodding to a few ninjas as they walked past him in the hallway. "Says eating is the only thing that keeps the nausea away so I let her have it."

Raph frowned. Apparently he was going to have to start packing Miwa some food as well so she'd leave Leo's lunch alone.

"Anyway, I would like to talk to you, Raph," Leo said, leaning his shell against the hallway wall.

"You have my complete attention," Raph said, chuckling to himself as he thought that maybe phone conversations, where they couldn't see, smell or touch each other, would be more productive. He glanced up as Mona entered the break room.

"Case and April just went out on an errand. We're finally _alone_ ," Mona said, speaking a little louder than normal. "You ready to finish showing me what's under that shell?"

Raph's eyes widened as his head jerked in her direction.

Leo straightened up away from the wall where he stood. "Raph?" He recognized Mona's voice and her previous smug face, the one he'd seen when she'd announced to everyone, including the children at their family dinner table, that she'd lost her mutant virginity to Raphael, immediately came to mind. He glared at the wall across from where he stood.

"Call ya back, babe," Raph said before ending the call. He stood abruptly, his chair scraping the floor as it was pushed back, and glared down at Mona. "What the fuck was that?"

Mona sat at the table, unimpressed with his snarl. "You looked bored," she said, shrugging. "Thought it might spice up the conversation."

Raph glared back at her. "Trust me, I'm _never_ bored talkin to Leonardo."

"Don't tell me you guys don't know how to take a joke."

"Do I look like I'm laughin?"

"Not yet. But maybe we just need to spend some quality time together for my sense of humor to rub off on you," Mona said with a smile.

Raph turned to leave but stopped at the doorway as he tried to keep himself from going back and knocking the table over on its side by reminding himself that this woman was Casey's cousin. "Don't you dare try hurtin Leo again," he finally growled out and forced himself out of the room and towards his bike.

Mona looked up from her cell phone a moment later when she heard someone enter the room and was slightly disappointed to see that it was just Casey.

"Not cool, Mona," Casey said, shaking his head at her.

"Oh come on, Case," Mona said. "I get that he's in a relationship, I do. But if you were face to face with a gorgeous female mutant, you can't tell me you wouldn't _try_."

"He's not _just_ in a relationship, Mona. Trust me, yer not gonna get between him and Leo."

"I'm not thinking _forever_ , Case. I just want to borrow him for a little while. I don't want to get between him and Leo," she paused and grinned the famous Jones' family shit-eating grin and Casey had to admit, he wasn't happy to see it. "Unless you think they'd be up to that sort of thing?"

Casey frowned and shook his head at her. "Not funny, Mona. Ya need to keep yer inappropriate comments to yerself."

"I just think it'd be cool to see what its like," Mona said, shrugging at him.

"You need to back off. I don't need an angry Raphael stompin around here. Plus, Leo – Leo can be scary."

Mona rolled her eyes before she suddenly perked up. "How about the other two brothers? Think they'd -,"

"No!" Casey said. "And if you pull this shit again yer out."

"Hey! I'm family!"

"Only by blood," Casey said, giving her a pointed look. "They're family by choice." He turned and left, running right into April in the hall outside the break room.

She threw her arms around his neck and pulled his surprised face down for a kiss before whispering, "Nice job, Jones."

* * *

Raph left the garage and headed directly to Hamato headquarters. He wanted to see Leo's face when he spoke to him about Mona. It was practically dark and he vaguely thought that maybe he shouldn't give Leo shit for skipping lunch when he'd obviously waited fairly late in the day to eat his own.

He snuck in the building and moved swiftly across the rafters towards Leo's office, which was disappointingly empty. He moved further into the building and finally heard voices coming from what he knew was a main conference room. He crouched on the rafter and watched as Miwa and a few ninja stood examining several maps pinned up on the wall.

Raph's feet hit the floor soundlessly behind the group but Miwa still turned when he landed and he watched as she tried to keep the surprise from her face.

"I'm talking to Donatello about the security system again," she said with an aggravated sigh. "Ninja or not, you should not be able to sneak in here."

"Where's Leo?" he asked, ignoring her frustrated glare.

"He's out," Miwa said, turning back to the map.

"Out?" Raph asked. "It's not even really dark yet. Is he on patrol?"

"Well we had another sighting so he and Smith and a few others went out to see if they could catch him."

"Catch who?" Raph growled, his frustration growing.

"He didn't tell you?" Miwa asked, looking honestly confused. "Leo said he was going to talk to you about this."

He watched Miwa vaguely wave at the map which had pins stuck in different locations, all centered around what Raph knew to be an especially rough neighborhood.

"Miwa, what the hell's goin on?"

* * *

They'd spotted him in action. And taken chase.

The creature was surprising fast, given its large size. And he noted that it was also able to stick closely to the shadows, so he wasn't getting a chance to get a good look at it.

Leo, like the ninja who were with him, was covered head to toe in black, complete with a hood. He didn't wear clothes often, but this creature had eluded them long enough. He wanted answers tonight.

He signaled to the ninja he had with him to instruct two of them to circle forward to try to cage whoever or whatever this was between their group. He paused for only a moment to long for his brothers as he realized he was currently leading three men.

The creature didn't like being boxed in and Smith went down surprisingly fast after the first two ninja were knocked out, leaving Leo to go up against the creature alone.

Darkness or no, he could see the outline of the creature. Hear its fast-paced breathing. The sound its feet made as it moved through the alley.

Despite the hits against his current teammates, he stepped out in the alley, hoping to draw the creature out as well.

That actually worked and he watched as the giant stepped into the light. The chains in his hands caught Leo's attention first.

But then he froze. Everything stopped.

He was face to face with a large metal turtle.

The chains swung towards him. Leo heard them. He saw them. He should've moved. Jumped. Dove out of the way. But he didn't. He couldn't. He was actually face to face with a creature that had haunted his nightmares as a child.

The chain went around his foot and he went down. His face scraped across the pavement before he was suddenly lifted in the air. He hung upside down by his ankle and the shock of it finally jolted him out of his cold sweat panic.

"Stop!" he yelled, while reaching up to press the emergency button on his T-phone. "We just want to talk to you! You can't keep doing what you're doing."

Leo heard an audible gasp before the creature released the chains and he crashed back down to the ground and into blackness.

* * *

It's always such an honor when someone who loves this series contacts me, and recently I've had the pleasure of talking to one such reader. And not only that, but they've sketched out a scene from this chapter! Please check Selene467's picture and leave em a little message on how cool it is :) My favorite part is definitely the T-phone - I think we all know what's happening there. Here's the link - just remove the * from this website: *selene467*.deviantart* *art/Promise-Series-Leonardo-614466509*


	9. Chapter 9

Leo kept his eyes squeezed shut but lifted his hand and swung at whatever was currently within his range to discourage the sound of his purple-clad brother's voice trying to wake him up.

"Hey, stop that," Donnie said, diving backwards to avoid being hit as Raph grabbed Leo's hand before it could make contact.

"Leo," Raph said. The command in his voice was clear.

Leo grimaced but opened his eyes. He was on the cot in Donnie's lab. Raph sat on a stool in front of him while Donnie stood next to Raph.

"Finally," he heard Mikey say.

His eyes roamed down towards his feet, where Michelangelo was doing something to cause extra pressure on his ankle, before his sights returned to Raph's relieved face.

"I love Raphael," Leo finally said before he attempted to roll to his other side to go back to sleep.

"Whoa, whoa," Donnie said, pulling on Leo's shoulder. He quickly pulled Leo up into a sitting position to help keep him awake. "No more sleeping for you right now. I need some answers."

"Dr. Donnie," Leo said with a lopsided grin at his brother. "Why are you so tall, Donatello? Ever seen a tall regular turtle? Don't make sense." Leo shook his head. "Don't make sense that you're so tall."

Raph frowned as he watched Leo. "Donnie?"

"He appears to be having some strange concussion side-effects."

"Stop, stop!" Mikey said suddenly and their attention was drawn back to Leo as his feet struggled against Mikey when he tried to swing his legs off the side of the cot.

Raph moved to sit on the edge of the cot to hold Leo's legs in place "Sit still," he ordered up to the now scowling Leonardo. "Yer ankle's sprained. Mike is wrappin it for ya."

"What happened to your ankle, Leo?" Donnie asked. "Looks like something was wrapped around it, but none of the ninja you had with you had any idea. Based on the bruising, it looks like you're pretty lucky none of the bones were actually broken."

Leo didn't appear to be paying attention to Donatello and instead just grinned at Raphael as he felt Raph's hands over his legs, holding them still while Mikey tried to quickly finish with the ankle wrapping. But then he suddenly turned towards Donatello.

"Donnie," Leo said.

Leo's voice was serious enough to cause all three brothers to lean towards him, eager to know what had happened to him. When they'd received the alert from Leo's T-phone, Miwa had been filling Raphael in about the vigilante they'd been trying to track for the past couple weeks. Whoever it was seemed to be working alone and had left a number of criminals chained up in different locations for the police to find. And whoever it was had begun to attract the attention of the local news outlets, which was dangerous for all of them.

Leo had not only been trying to find out who it was, but Raphael realized he'd also been trying to tell Raphael about this repeatedly over the past few days, if not weeks. And different issues had been preventing the conversation.

Raphael and Miwa had reached Leo first in that alley, and Raph was suddenly staring down at his unconscious mate in the middle of a dirty alley, with teammates, who were not his brothers, all unconscious nearby as well. He'd been furious, and the strange awkward feeling that he'd been experiencing over the past few weeks returned full force as he realized he was angry at himself for leaving Leo alone in this. For not having Leo's back.

The other ninja were brought back to headquarters, although all three had woken on the way, and could only tell Miwa that they had been knocked out before Leo. And that the vigilante knew how to hit. Hard.

"Donnie," Leo repeated, his tone still serious. "My katana are very heavy weapons."

Donnie blinked at him. Raphael sighed in frustration.

"You don't remember what happened to you?" Donnie asked after it was clear Leo had nothing to add to that statement.

Leo turned and smiled slowly at Raphael. "Raphael is my favorite," he said. He watched Raph's eyes narrow in amusement at him. "I love you guys too. Don and Mike. But you should thank Raph. He keeps me from going crazy. I'm sure you two would've killed me off years ago if it wasn't for him."

Raph kept his eyes locked with Leo's eyes as he heard Mikey snort. Even if Leo wasn't himself right now, he could still see sincerity in Leo's blue eyes. Donnie suddenly snapped his fingers in front of Leo's face and Raphael nearly jumped himself, startled out of his sudden sappy thoughts about his own favorite turtle.

"Hey, I need you to focus," Donnie said. "Do you remember going out earlier tonight? Chasing someone?"

Leo looked serious for a moment and then nodded and said, "I bet if humans wore my katana, it would hurt their back, because they don't have proper spine protection."

"How long do you think this will last, doc?" Mikey asked. He pulled up a stool to sit now that Leo's ankle was wrapped and bit his lower lip to keep from laughing outright. He told himself that this was a serious matter. And not funny. And he probably shouldn't pull out his T-phone to record some of it, even though his fingers were itching to do just that.

"I'm lucky to have a shell," Leo said, nodding at Donnie. "Don't ever forget that you're lucky to have a shell Donnie."

"Hopefully just a few hours," Donnie said, pinching the skin at the top of his nose. He turned to Raph and frowned. "And exactly how long has he been actively patrolling?"

"Not long," Raph said with a small shrug, trying to hedge since it was clear Donnie was angry.

"He needs to take it easy," Donnie said and Mike and Raph immediately heard the stern doctor tone of voice. "You guys are just barely recovered from that explosion. You know, the one where he was blown off a building and had a serious head injury?"

"I remember the explosion, Don," Raph said, letting his fingers tighten over Leo's legs which resulted in a happy hum from Leo who sat listening, although Raph wasn't sure he was actually paying attention.

"Now he's got a _second_ head injury just weeks after the first. Do you know what happens to someone with repetitive head injuries?"

Raph huffed out a growl and looked down at his lap, reminding himself again that he hadn't been there when Leo had needed him.

"I love all three of you," Leo said suddenly as his eyes trailed over his brothers. "You guys are so talented. I have to work extra hard just so I can keep up." His eyes slid shut and he began to tip over towards the wall.

"Hey," Raph said, softly. He lifted his hand and wrapped it around Leo's neck to keep him upright and get his attention.

Leo's eyes opened again and he focused on Raphael with a predatory grin that Raph immediately recognized.

"Do you know my favorite thing to do with Raphael?" Leo asked. He dropped the grin and looked momentarily confused before saying, " _With_ Raphael or _to_ Raphael? Donatello prefers proper usage of words in the English language, right Donnie?"

Raph was worried, he was, but loopy Leo was kind of funny. He exchanged a quick smile with Mikey who averted his eyes as Donnie glared at them both.

"That thing hit like a train," Leo said, suddenly and all three of his brothers suddenly refocused on him.

"The vigilante you were chasin?" Raph asked.

"Or like a dump truck. Or like a train carrying lots of dump trucks. Trucks filled with heavy rocks. Rocky dump truck train." Leo chuckled.

"Do you remember hitting your head?" Donnie asked.

"Or what happened to your ankle?" Mikey asked.

"With or to?" Leo said, murmuring more to himself than to the others. "I do it with Raphael. But I also do it to him, _Donnie_ ," he said pointedly, as if trying to argue the point with Donatello.

"I'm serious about him taking it easy," Donnie growled as a coherent Leo was clearly not happening tonight. "For now, Raph, please just take him home before he shares his favorite Raphael-related activity with us."

* * *

When Leo opened his eyes again, he found Raph staring hard back at him.

"Sorry," Leo said automatically.

Raph raised an eye ridge at him.

"I worried you," Leo responded.

Raph nodded at him, although he dropped the scowl and let the relief he was feeling finally reach his expression as he tightened his hold around Leo's shell. Donnie had said Leo could fall asleep, as long as Raph woke him routinely throughout the night, so Raph had settled them in their own bed earlier, tucking Leo into his side as Leo had quickly fallen back to sleep.

Of course, that had been only _after_ Leo had poured his heart out all over their children when they had first entered their apartment. Akito and Machi were confused but had accepted the hugs and told Leo how much they loved him as well before Raph directed Leo into their bedroom to rest.

And he'd just been about to wake Leo for the first time when Leo's eyes had opened on their own.

"Are ya Leo again?" Raph asked with a teasing smile.

Leo groaned. "I'm going to pretend like I don't know what you're talking about."

Raphael chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes then."

Leo slowly pressed himself into a sitting position and let his throbbing head drop down into his hands. When he raised his head again he found Raph there with a glass of water and some pain medication, which he gratefully accepted without a word.

"What's wrong with my ankle?" he asked, the pain radiating there was demanding attention as well.

"It's sprained. Remember how it happened yet?" He watched as Leo frowned in thought before he had to jerk his hand forward to catch Leo's water glass before he dropped it and drenched their bedding. "Fearless?"

Leo shook his head and looked up at Raphael, his eyes wide. "It was a metal turtle, Raphie. A metal turtle. With chains."

Raphael glanced back down at Leo's ankle, remembering what the bruising beneath that bandage looked like. He lifted his eyes back to Leo and found Leo's face had paled. His eyes were still wide. His breathing had quickened.

"It's crazy, right? That it would be a metal turtle?" He wanted Raphael to disagree with him. To tell him that there was no way there was a real metal turtle.

Raph lifted a hand and slid it down the side of Leo's face before sliding it back to massage at his neck. "Well, it was dark, right?"

Leo nodded. It had been dark. But the image stayed in his head. He was sure of what he'd seen.

"We'll figure out who it is, Leo. I won't let a metal turtle anywhere near you, which should be a fairly easy job since you've been grounded by Dr. Donnie."

"I can't be grounded, Raph. Miwa is already grounded."

"Leo, you just had an abnormal, although hilarious, reaction to a concussion. Donnie's right. We have to protect that head of yers." Raph's hand fell back to his own lap with a sigh. "Plus, Leo, we were talkin and none of us like ya out there without the rest of the team. At the very least I should've been out there with ya." He glanced back up at Leo and took another breath. "Ya wanted to know what's been bothering me lately and it wasn't really clear to me until I saw ya in that alley earlier. I keep seein ya workin hard, but on yer own. Relyin on _Smith_ to be yer second-in-command, when that should be me. I'm tired of bein away from ya all day. I want to be with you, Leo."

Leo smiled at him. "I would like that too, Raphael. I hate having to schedule in time to have conversations with my best friend. And I really have some things to talk to you about involving all of this and about the kids." He covered one of Raph's hands with his own. "But, you love working in the garage. And you're good at it, Takara." He frowned suddenly as he remembered the drama with Mona earlier that day. "Is it Mona? Is she a problem, Raphie?"

"No," Raph said, sternly.

"I won't stand for anyone making you uncomfortable," Leo said fiercely.

"It ain't Mona," Raph said, stubbornly. "She's irritatin and after something she's not gonna get, but – Leo, I just want to be with you. I don't care about the garage. You and me are more important."

Leo leaned over and kissed him. Their lips moved gently against each other and Leo swore he could feel his head clear with every second of contact with Raphael.

"So, Fearless," Raph whispered with a grin, "what exactly is yer favorite thing to do _with and to_ me?"

Leo groaned. "I didn't actually tell the others, did I?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Machi says she hasn't sensed anything else since that day with the wolves and she doesn't really want to work on the ability."

"And Akito?" Raph asked, watching Leo pick up another one of Woody's famous wings to eat. Leo had woken up again later that night and announced that he was hungry, so while the kids, and probably the rest of the clan, slept peacefully, the two of them sat side by side at their kitchen island, eating delicious buffalo chicken.

"Akito is refusing to practice using his energy."

"Refusing?" He watched Leo nod. "And what's the word on Violet?"

Leo swallowed and kind of shrugged. "I called the bunnies' mother again. And she apologized _again_ that they haven't been here for training. But she said Usagi took them on a mission and she's been waiting to hear from them herself. She didn't sound too pleased, actually. And if she hasn't heard from them, I can only imagine that Usagi has left their dimension."

"Ya worried?" Raph asked as he pictured Leo's students. He'd watched those kids grow up as well and missed seeing them around the building. The little furballs felt like family.

Leo picked up another chicken wing. "Trying not to be. They're with Usagi and he wouldn't want anything to happen to them."

"And they're well trained," Raph said with a smile in Leo's direction.

"I feel bad for Akito, though," Leo said after giving Raph a grateful smile. "It's a lot happening for him all at once. I think he'd be handling the energy ability a little better if he had Violet around for support."

Raph nodded and watched Leo pick up another wing. "Ya know, my heating up _all_ the leftover wings wasn't a challenge for you to eat _all_ the leftover wings," he teased.

"Sensei didn't raise a quitter, Raphie."

Raphael chuckled and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on Leo's neck before he watched Leo devour another chicken wing. He'd been thinking about eating a few himself, but Leo was clearly starving.

"Ya still think we need to dimension hop?"

Leo's eyes shifted towards Raphael. "I know you don't want to."

Raph sighed and pushed a glass of milk towards Leo. "I really don't."

Leo considered his emerald turtle. They both sat without any gear or masks and Leo let his eyes scan over Raph's face minus the typical cut of red they were all used to. It always felt like a privilege to see Raphie without his mask, because no one else got to see him this way.

"Why not?" he finally asked. The last time he'd tried to bring this up, Raph had cut the discussion short, which left Leo to only guess at Raph's reasons.

"Nothin good ever happens in that dimension."

"Some good has happened there," Leo argued, thinking back to signing the papers that granted them permanent guardianship of Akito and Machi, their day at the amusement park, sitting in a baseball stadium to watch a live game, eating out in an actual restaurant across from Raphael.

Raph watched Leo think and knew Leo was picturing good things, while Raph only pictured Leo chained in a cave, Leo bleeding out in the woods, Akito running away, Leo being shoved and slobbered on by the fuckin rabbit.

Leo, in turn, watched Raphael think. He quickly wiped his fingers clean before reaching over to pull Raphael's face towards him so he could kiss him before saying "Don't worry about it, Raph. We don't need to go. Kids are fine. We're fine. We'll figure out how to help them."

Raph let out a breath. They'd had bad experiences there, but there was something else about the possible trip that he didn't want to voice. There was something about searching out members of the kids' birth family that didn't sit right with him. No one else had stepped forward to claim the kids after their birth parents, or even the evil uncle, had died. And if anyone _was_ available, he worried about how much contact they might now want with the kids. But if Leo had really wanted to go to the other dimension, Raph knew that he would've gone with him. Leader Leo didn't make decisions lightly. But it looked like Leo was okay giving up on the idea and for that, Raph was grateful.

He scooted his stool closer to Leo's and let his legs bump into Leo's legs.

"Come back here," he said, pulling Leo's face back towards him. He kissed Leo again and greedily twisted his tongue around Leo's spicy buffalo chicken tongue. Leo chuckled, which broke the kiss, as he realized Raph had let him eat all the chicken wings without eating any for himself. He began pressing kisses to Raph's jawline and then used his nose to push Raph's face to the side so that his mouth could reach Raph's neck.

"This is my favorite thing, by the way," Leo murmured as he continued his assault on Raphael's neck.

Raph let his eyes close and leaned forward so he could rest his hands on the tops of Leo's legs. "Which part? Me lettin ya eat our entire snack?" He listened to Leo hum as Leo continued to move his lips across his neck. "The middle of the night discussion?" Another hum from Leo.

Leo's tongue traced up one of the prominent veins in his neck and Raph huffed out a small growl as he felt heat begin to spread across his skin. Don hadn't said just how restrictive Leo's physical activities were supposed to be in his concussion recovery period. And the genius probably wouldn't appreciate being woken in the middle of the night in order for him to ask, although hearing pure aggravation in Donnie's voice might be worth making the call.

"The part where yer drivin me fuckin crazy with just yer tongue and there's nothin I can do about it?" He growled again when he heard Leo's chuckle.

Leo lifted his face so he could meet Raph's eyes. "All of it, Raphie. Everything I do with you is always my favorite thing. Although, I do prefer it when you _can_ do something about it." He turned himself on his stool so that he could lean further into Raphael but stopped immediately when the sudden movement made him clench his eyes shut.

Raph moved his hands to Leo's shoulders and squeezed, reassuring Leo with his own strength. "Dizzy?"

"Yes," Leo said, forcing his eyes back open. He smiled an apologetic smile at Raphael.

Raph stood and pulled Leo up onto his uninjured foot before looping Leo's arm around his shoulders for support as they began to walk. "Let's get ya back to bed. For _sleep_ ," he said pointedly when Leo's eyes sparked up at him. "Don't look at me like that. Ya have a head injury."

He could only chuckle at Leo's pout as he helped Leo get situated on their bed so that they were soon curled around each other. Raph listened to Leo breathe and pressed a kiss to the top of his head before saying, "This is my favorite thing, too."

* * *

"I hear you were a riot when you came to last night," Miwa said to Leo as soon as he emerged from his bedroom the next morning.

Leo scowled at her as he limped over to take a seat next to her and Sam in his and Raph's kitchen. He turned his scowl to Raphael as Raph placed a plate of food in front of him.

Raph threw up his hands in his defense and said, "I didn't say anything to her," before turning back to the stovetop where he continued cooking breakfast. Raph was pleased that Leo had slept in, by Leo standards, although he probably needed more sleep considering the two of them had been up half the night and this wasn't actually considered sleeping in by normal standards.

Miwa accepted a second helping of eggs and toast from Raphael before turning back to Leo. "I really wish I could've seen Mr. Rules and Honor go punch drunk crazy."

"What she means, Leo, is that she was very worried last night until we got word that you were awake again and we're glad you're okay and feeling better this morning," Sam said around a mouthful of eggs as he leaned around his still chuckling wife to grin over at the blue-clad turtle.

"Thank you, _Sam_ ," Leo said as he shot Miwa another dark look. He dropped it though and quickly held out an arm for a side hug from Machi as she entered the kitchen.

"Feeling better daddy?" she asked, peering up at him as if trying to judge for herself how he was doing. "Your face is all scratched up." She hadn't noticed that the night before, maybe because she'd been distracted by his loopy behavior.

"I'll be fine, Mach. You ready for breakfast?" Leo asked, quickly trying to distract her. He glanced over at Raph who reappeared with a plate for Machi as she seated herself next to Leo.

Akito entered next and merely glanced over at Leo before filling his own plate and sitting heavily down on a stool at the island as well. Leo watched Akito in his peripheral. He missed their happy, carefree boy and wished there was something else they could do to help bring him back. He'd tried to help him explore and control this amazing new power he seemed to possess but had failed miserably. He'd tried to get Violet back, but she was Usagi's family and as such, Usagi had the right to pull her and her siblings for whatever mission he deemed necessary, although Leo wished Usagi had at least told him beforehand that he was taking the bunnies away.

He'd even increased the number of patrols Akito went out on, although now that he himself had been grounded, he wasn't sure how he felt about Akito going out. Akito had patrolled without Leo in his own team before, but Leo had always been out _somewhere_ on the streets.

Of course, he could remember being sixteen. And at sixteen, he and his brothers had had free reign to roam the city. That was part of the problem, though. Sensei had allowed them to roam because they were a team. Leo had always been one of four. And while Leo had raised Akito with the bunnies, he had clearly been too dependent on the thought that those bunnies were always going to be around. Instead, Akito had suddenly been reduced to a team of one. And as a result, he was about to be contained mostly inside their apartment building.

It wasn't fair and Leo knew it. But completely understanding the problem didn't immediately give Leo any idea on how to fix it. He felt uneasy knowing that for the first time, regarding Akito, he didn't have a plan.

Meanwhile, their apartment filled. Miwa and Sam were just the first of the visitors. Master Splinter soon joined them. Then Donnie, Sadie and Gabe. Casey had sent a text to ask about Leo as he and April took Shadow to school. But everyone else had shown up, piling in around them in the kitchen and spilling out into the main room. They wanted to see Leo. They hadn't been allowed in Donnie's lab the night before. His brothers had kicked everyone else out, even their father, leaving just the four of them in that room. Just the turtles huddled around their fallen brother. His brothers hadn't been there when Leo had gone down and they needed the time alone with him until they could be reassured that he would be okay. Surprisingly, no one had really complained about being kicked out and Raph, Donnie and Mikey had been grateful that the other clan members seemed to have understood.

Raph leaned against a kitchen counter now, happy to give up the chef position to Mike and Woody when they arrived, and watched Leo. It was clear that Leonardo was deep in thought and if he had to guess, his thoughts centered around Akito, considering Leo had ducked into his own head when their son had arrived at the breakfast table. Raph wasn't even sure Leo had noticed how crowded their home had become.

He moved through the group and edged himself in next to Leo as their family sat talking around them. No one seemed upset by Leo's silence. Apparently, seeing him upright was enough for them. But it wasn't in Raph's nature to let Leo sit and stew within his own head for too long.

"Fearless," he whispered, nudging Leo's shoulder with his own. He watched Leo jerk himself out of his thoughts and turn to him before glancing around the room at their crowded home.

Leo returned his eyes to Raphael and smiled, thankful as always for his emerald turtle's ability to pull him out of his head when needed. He gave Raphael a quick kiss and turned towards the rest of the group, much to the group's subtle relief, to join in their loud morning conversations.


	11. Chapter 11

Raphael watched as Leo dozed off on the couch with his head in Raph's lap in the middle of their movie. Machi sat curled behind Leo's knees and looked comfortable enough to fall into sleep at any moment herself. Even Akito had momentarily given up sulking in his room to join them on this rare day that both of their parents were home in the middle of the day, and had sprawled himself out on the armchair next to them.

Raphael let his eyes roam lazily over his family members as the fingers on one hand traced over the patterns in Leo's shell. His other hand held his T-phone and he sat trying to figure out how to tell Casey and April that he was going to quit working in the garage. With Leo injured and home recovering, they didn't expect him in today, or for the next few days probably, which bought him some time.

He wasn't purposely trying to stall, though, and he had zero doubts about his decision to quit and be with Leo, but he'd been working in that garage with them for almost fourteen years now and he owed it to them to give them the news sooner rather than later. They would need to make arrangements, whether that be Mona full-time or something else, so that the business didn't suffer.

"Hey, pops," Akito said, quietly, not wanting to disrupt his dad or Machi, who had fallen asleep finally with her head resting on top of Leo's legs.

Raph pulled himself away from his thoughts and nodded silently in response to his son.

Akito paused. Now that he had his father's attention, he was suddenly nervous. But he figured his pops would understand, maybe even more than his dad. "I can't stand not knowing where Violet is," he said. He spoke slowly, keeping his voice low. "Or if she's okay. I know you'd both kill me if I left to try to find her. And the truth is, I wouldn't even know where to start. But I feel pretty useless just sitting here."

Raphael considered his son's sad face. "Well, it probably wont make ya feel better, but yer right," he finally said, matching Akito's quiet tone. "We would kill ya if ya ran off suddenly."

Akito pursed his lips into a straight line and remained silent, waiting.

Raph sighed and looked down at his sleeping Leonardo. When Leo went missing, Raph found him. He always found him. This was slightly different, though, since Violet hadn't been _taken_. Although, the situation still made Raphael want to rip Usagi's ears from his head for leaving Akito and Leo to worry. That was probably not the sentiment to mention to their son, however.

"I know ya miss her. I know it. But she's not exactly missin. We don't know that she's in danger. She's with her uncle and he has the right to call upon his family to help him do whatever it is that he does." Raphael wasn't exactly sure what Usagi did, mainly because he never cared enough to ask. "I'm sure she'll call as soon as she's home."

Akito's eyes dropped back to his lap and Raph cringed inwardly, knowing that although he'd given the correct, grown-up-answer, it was the wrong teenager-answer. He knew that if he was in Akito's position, the only thing he'd want to hear would be: _Gear up._

"I know it stinks," he offered.

Akito nodded and stood quietly before leaving to lock himself away in his room.

Raphael watched him go, desperately trying to think of something to say that would bring him back and keep the four of them sitting together. His attention was drawn away from Akito's door though as he felt Leo's head shift and suddenly those blue eyes were staring up at him.

"Don't feel bad, Raph," Leo whispered.

Raphael smirked down at Leo and Leo's ability to read his thoughts. He glanced down at Machi and found her still sleeping comfortably against Leo's legs.

"He came to me specifically and I can't do jack shit to help."

"He came to you because he's knows what a strong protector you are," Leo whispered back. "And he's going to be one as well." Leo leaned into Raph's hand as he felt Raph's thumb run down the side of his face. "But this problem is out of our hands. At least until I get my hands on Usagi," he said with a frown.

"Hey, you keep yer hands off that damn rabbit."

Leo chuckled out silent laughter before whispering back, "Sorry, Takara. Poor choice of words."

* * *

Leo watched as Raphael paused at their door and made a show of checking to see if he had his bike keys on him.

"Yer sure yer okay with me leavin?" he called over to Leo once he'd dug the keys out of his jacket pocket.

"We're just going to sit here and watch another movie," Leo said with a yawn. Akito had rejoined them and he currently had a fox tucked into his two sides. Well, as tucked as Akito could manage considering he was now much taller than Leo, but Leo appreciated the effort.

He wasn't going to tell Raphael, but his head still hurt and he gratefully felt himself begin to sink into another nap, aided by the warmth provided by the kids. He glanced over at Raphael again, though, and struggled to stay awake so he could figure out what was causing Raph's hesitation. "Be right back," he whispered to the kids and pushed himself to stand so he could limp over to where Raph stood.

He nodded to the door as he approached and Raph opened it and stepped out into the hallway with Leo.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Leo asked.

"No," Raph said. "I just don't want to leave you here."

"You want me to go with you?"

"No, ya need to rest."

Leo smiled and wisely kept his thoughts about how adorable Raphael was as a mother hen to himself.

"Well, they live pretty close to us," Leo said, gesturing with one hand in the direction of Casey and April's apartment door. "You could wait till they come home."

Raph shook his head again, ignoring Leo's smug smile. "I don't want to associate this conversation with their apartment. Plus, I should probably grab some of my stuff and bring it home."

"So _go_ ," Leo said with emphasis now that he was pretty sure he'd run through all the reasons Raph was stalling.

Raph nodded and ran a hand down Leo's arm until he could grasp Leo's fingers within his own. "Promise to keep off that ankle and ask the kids to get ya what ya need?"

Leo nodded.

"I'll make dinner as soon as I get home."

Leo nodded again, although he quickly regretted it as it sent a wave of pain across his forehead. He kept his face smooth however and gratefully slid his eyes shut as Raphael leaned forward to kiss him goodbye.

He watched Raphael disappear into the elevator and was about to head back into their apartment when the stairwell door suddenly opened and his five bunny students, followed by Usagi, slowly moved into his hallway.

Leo's immediate happiness to see them again was tampered, however, by their downcast faces. Not one of his young students was making eye contact with him. And Usagi looked irritated.

"Leonardo," Usagi said upon seeing him in the hallway. "May I have a word?"

Leo watched as some of the bunnies seemed to flinch under the harsh tone. He didn't say anything in return, just knocked on his own apartment door.

Akito answered a moment later with a confused expression that quickly disappeared when he saw the hallway full of bunnies, and Leo watched him zero in on Violet in particular.

"Can you bring me my crutches?" Leo asked him. "And then see if your friends would like something to eat while I talk to their uncle in the dojo?"

Akito nodded eagerly and held the door open further to allow the bunnies to enter. Violet's eyes rose to meet Akito's as she passed before lowering just as quickly. He moved quickly to retrieve his dad's crutches and hand them off to him before corralling the group into the kitchen. Machi quickly joined them as well and began helping Akito pull out snacks and drinks for the sullen, abnormally quiet bunnies.

Akito stared at all of them as they ate in silence. He looked to Machi who shrugged at him in confusion. Unable to stand this crappy reunion any longer, he grabbed Violet's hand and pulled her away from the group and into his bedroom. He shut the door behind them before swinging her around and into his arms for a hug. Her arms quickly found their place around his middle as she pressed her face into his shoulder.

"I've been so worried, Vi," he said.

She lifted her face from his shoulder so that she could look at him. "Uncle Usagi said we were going on a mission with him but we weren't allowed to tell anyone. Not even you or Master Leonardo," she whispered to him quickly. "I'm so sorry, Akito. I hated not telling you. And then we left our dimension and I had no way to contact you. And then -," she cut herself off and lowered her eyes again.

He cupped her face and pulled it up so that she was looking at him again. "Are you okay Violet?" Her eyes were sad and it tugged at him. He quickly lowered his face to hers and kissed her before she could even attempt to answer. He could see that she wasn't okay. Just like her siblings, his friends, weren't okay either.

She squeezed him tighter and kissed him in return. She'd thought about this while she was away. Thought about just being back with Akito where she always felt safe. Akito pulled away from her too soon and she was again faced with his questioning face.

"What happened?"

Violet bit her low lip and hesitated. "I'm not allowed to tell you," she said finally. She watched his face shift into honest confusion and even a hint of betrayal that made her stomach hurt. She grabbed at his arms, forbidding him from pulling any further away from her. "I almost don't want you to know," she said. "It wasn't like the patrols you and your family run."

* * *

Frustration covered Usagi's face and he didn't attempt small talk as the two rode the elevator upstairs. Usagi pushed the dojo door open and tromped inside, although he held the door open for Leo and his crutches to pass through before turning away from him to pace the floor.

Leo waited in silence. He wanted to know what had happened and he especially wanted to know why his bunny students appeared so upset. He briefly thought about sending Raph a text about their visitors but decided against it. Raph would turn right around and come home and he knew Raph wanted to get his conversation with Casey and April over with already. He sighed as he waited for Usagi to pull it together and begin talking.

Usagi's ear twitched at the sound of the sigh and he finally turned towards Leo.

"When I asked you to train my nieces and nephews, I expected to choose one of them as my successor. You remember that?" Usagi asked angrily. He didn't wait for Leo's nod before he continued. "But you wanted to train them as a team and I foolishly allowed it because I wanted you to continue training them. I also didn't pull them when I could see that you were not only training them as a team, but you were training an outsider as their leader." Usagi scowled. He knew it was also his own desire to remain within Leonardo's world that had prevented him from saying this before. But that was also before this botched mission was on his record.

"What are you trying to say, Usagi?" Leo asked, his frustration growing as he could sense Usagi was about to complain about Akito.

"That since I've been forced to accept _all_ of them as a team, that I expected to see them working as a team when I took them out on this mission. But apparently they're _incapable_ without that damn fox son of yours."

Leo bristled in irritaton at Usagi's harsh words regarding his son and the team he'd created. "Exactly what kind of mission did you bring them on?" Leo asked, letting his own anger show. He knew how capable the bunnies were in action, so even if they'd had to adjust, Leo found it hard to believe that they had been completely lost without Akito. "And how could you just disappear with them like that? You had to know how worried the rest of us would be, especially Akito."

"The type of mission we were on is none of your concern," Usagi said, narrowing his eyes at the blue-clad turtle. "And in case you forgot, I'm allowed to take them anywhere I want. Your approval is not required. Not to mention the fact that you don't currently wish to speak to me."

"I'm always willing to speak to you about my students," Leo countered. He watched Usagi practically roll his eyes and stare off across the large room. "Then why show up now?" Leo asked angrily.

Usagi scowled back in return. "I agreed to give them a chance to say goodbye."


	12. Chapter 12

Casey looked up and grinned when he heard the familiar rumble of the shellcycle's engine. He dropped his tools and headed towards Raphael as Raph pulled off his helmet.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you today," Casey said, giving Raph's shoulder a squeeze in greeting.

Raph nodded at Casey's happy lopsided grin and immediately felt nervous, knowing that Casey wasn't going to be happy about this.

"Yeah I know. Came in to talk to you and April. She free?"

Casey frowned at Raph's serious tone. "Sure. Uh, is it Leo? Is he okay?"

Raph nodded and when he didn't elaborate, Casey turned away from him to head towards the front office. Raph stayed where he was and his eyes moved slowly over the inside of their garage. He felt a tug of nostalgia which was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a tiny dark-haired woman.

"Well good afternoon," Mona said. "Ya know we're only getting further behind while you're busy playing nurse."

"I'm gonna assume that's yer special way of asking how Leo is doing."

"Its not," Mona said, shaking her head.

Raph eyed her. "Look, Mona, you and I are about to _not_ see each other anymore, so let me ask, is it the turtle thing? The mutant thing? What?"

Mona smiled, happy to know that Raphael had indeed noticed her attention towards him. "You're a very handsome, turtle, Raphael. And not like anyone else I've ever met."

"So yer curious," Raph said, staring down at her.

"Maybe I am. But haven't you ever been curious about a human female? We could satisfy each other's curiosity."

Raph stared harder at her. "I am curious," he said finally.

The words should've excited her, but she noticed that he was still glaring at her and his tone of voice was dark instead of flirty.

"My experience with humans has been pretty limited," Raph said, crossing his arms. "So maybe I just don't know. But is this how all humans act? With aggressive come-ons to someone who's already taken?"

Mona sighed and rolled her eyes before glancing towards the front office to make sure Casey and April weren't heading their way yet. "I'm not saying we'd be public about it. It could be our little secret."

"You've met Leonardo. You've actually looked him in the eye and spoken to him."

"I'm not going to feel guilty about _him_ ," Mona said. "He gets you all the time. I just want a little bit of time."

Raphael continued to glare at her. He'd never encountered anyone as persistent and apparently conscious-free as her before, unless he counted the Shredder. "Ain't happenin, Mona."

"Why not?" Mona asked, urgently. "Are you afraid of Leo?" Her eyes lit up as if she'd just had an epiphany. "Wait, I get it. Leo is the dominant one between the two of you, isn't he?"

Raph pressed his lips together. He had brothers. He knew when he was being baited. And he wasn't about to share his and Leo's secrets with anyone.

"I guess if I want to experiment with a turtle, I should approach him, huh?" she asked, a sudden wide smile on her face. "He might be more interested in what you do with a female?"

"Yer not goin anywhere near him," Raph growled at her and was secretly pleased to see her take a step away from him. He'd never strike out at her, but he was always serious when it came to protecting Leo.

"Raph! How's Leo?" April asked as she and Casey appeared across the garage as they exited the front office. She tipped her head at him and then glanced at Mona when she saw his harsh expression and Mona's wide eyes. She'd been hoping a serious confrontation between the two of them could be avoided, but it looked like one had just happened.

Raph attempted to take a deep breath and remind himself why he'd come into the garage when the three T-phones in the room began buzzing.

* * *

The dojo was in chaos when Raphael arrived with Casey and April right behind him. The emergency signal had come from Akito's phone and Raph was already frantic because no one, including Leo and Akito, were answering their damn phones on his attempted calls as he raced home.

He froze once he was inside the dojo's main door and lost his breath as he found Donnie and Master Splinter hunched over an unconscious Leo while Mikey, Woody and Violet hovered over an unconscious Akito. Machi was there, sitting with Gabe in her lap while Sadie and Sam were crouched speaking to a seated Usagi.

Raphael's breaths were coming out in loud pants as he dropped to Leo's side and grabbed one of his hands. Donnie must have removed Leo's blue mask to examine him because it was abandoned on the floor near his head. Raph snatched it up and twisted it around his fingers. He barely heard Donnie say, "Don't move him," as he stared up at the wall behind Leo. There was a deep shell-shaped indent and he quickly realized Leo had been thrown into the wall. He looked back down to Leo, assured himself that Leo was still breathing, and then turned towards Usagi.

"What the fuck did you do?" he snarled over the rabbit.

Usagi's eyes narrowed at Raphael, but he was sluggish and couldn't avoid Raph's attack as the red-clad turtle lunged for him.

Raphael's fist landed squarely on Usagi's jaw and he had the rabbit pinned to the floor before he could feel the hands of his family pulling at him from behind. He ignored them and continued to glare at the rabbit until he saw small red feet in his peripheral and felt Machi's hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at his daughter and watched as Machi dropped down to her knees and shook her head at him.

"It wasn't him, papa," she said quietly. "He just woke up. Akito knocked him out too."

Usagi's senses were returning and he glared back up at Raphael and pushed his hand against the bulky turtle's side until Raphael released him.

Raphael quickly moved back to Leo's side but turned to look at Akito as well. Machi sat beside him and pressed herself into his side.

"Then why is Akito knocked out?" Raph asked in a low voice.

"I don't know," Machi answered. "There was a buzzing noise. In my head. And when I got up here, daddy was trying to calm Akito down, but it didn't work because suddenly all three of them flew across the room and wouldn't wake up. I hit Akito's emergency button." She continued to look back and forth between Akito and her unconscious father and suddenly moved away from Raph to help Akito sit up as he finally began to wake.

Raph was reluctant to leave Leo's side but he did so in order to check on their son.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked, wrapping his hands around Akito's shoulders. Akito's eyes were unfocused for a moment, at least until he spotted his dad laid out next to him, and then they widened and Akito jumped forward to reach Leo.

"No, no, no, no, no," Akito said in a rush. He shook Machi's concerned hand off his arm and tightened his own hand around Leo's forearm before turning to Raphael. "I'm so sorry, pops. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't even feel it coming. It just happened."

Raphael reached forward and pulled Akito into him, knowing that the hug would be more reassuring than anything he could say at the moment.

The dojo door opened again and Miwa, the final clan member, entered completely out of breath. She rushed towards Leo, currently the only family member who appeared to need medical help.

"Raph," Donnie finally said in a low voice. "I need you to carry Leo down to my lab."

Raph froze and stared at Donnie for a moment before looking down at his mate. He was expecting Leo to come to any second just as Usagi and Akito had.

"Don-," Raph began, but he was cut off by a sharp shake of Donnie's head. He quickly looped his arms under Leo's shoulders and knees and easily lifted him in order to follow Donnie.

"Take the kids home," he managed to say, making eye contact with both Michelangelo and Miwa. "Stay with them." Akito still looked slightly hysterical, despite Mikey and Woody's attempts to calm him, and he didn't want him alone.

Miwa's eyes were worried but she wrapped an arm around Machi's shoulders and nodded to Raphael as he passed by.

Raph rode the elevator down with Donnie and Master Splinter and a sense of dread filled him. Dr. Donnie's silence always spoke to how worried the genius was, even if he didn't say anything out loud.

"Please wake up," Raph murmured quietly to Leo as they entered Donnie's lab. He reluctantly set Leo down on the cot and watched as Donnie began hooking sensors up to Leo's head and plastron.

Their father rested a hand on Raphael's shoulder and Raph let Donnie work for a few minutes before he repeated Donatello's name, demanding some sort of explanation.

Donatello cringed as he read the output on the computer screen. He'd noticed in the dojo that Leo's pupils weren't responding as they should. And the computer was confirming his suspicion. But he continued to stay where he was with his shell to the others in the room. He just couldn't turn around and face Raphael and their father with the news.

* * *

Raph carefully lowered Leo into the tub and sighed heavily as he began to fill it with water. He pulled a chair up next to the tub and took his seat.

"A coma, Fearless," he whispered as he squeezed Leo's shoulder. "Please don't do this to me again."

He watched Leo's impassive face for a reaction and got nothing.

Donnie said this hit to the head, during Leo's concussion recovery period, had led to this terrible consequence. Donnie was working hard back in his lab. Doing research, even calling specialists around the country, to try to determine what they could do to help awaken Leo.

Raphael had finally decided to take Leo out of the lab and keep watch over him somewhere more comfortable.

"You were right, Leo," Raph said with a pause. "You hear me? You were right. We should've gone and tried to find someone to help us with the kids' powers." He watched and still got no response. "I swear, Fearless, I swear if you wake up right now, I'll tell ya that you were right every damn day for the rest of our lives."

He shut the water off. And waited.

* * *

Leo woke to the sound of waves.

He opened his eyes and felt immediate panic to find himself sitting in a tub full of water. He immediately began moving his body, especially his legs, knocking some of the water over the sides of the tub as he checked to make sure he didn't have any serious injuries.

He calmed his breathing since he appeared to be fine and pushed away memories of waking up in the farmhouse bathtub when he had felt only broken and sore. He pushed himself up and out of the tub easily and frowned when he realized he was in the beach house bathroom. He walked slowly into his and Raph's beach house bedroom, hoping to find Raphael there. The porch doors were open. The bed was made. There was no Raphael. Leo began wandering the different rooms of the beach house and found each one in order. But no family members in sight.

He exited the house with a frown and walked out onto the beach. Also empty.

He didn't remember arriving at the beach house. And their family was too large for him to have not found anyone at this point. He stood in the sand and slowly spun in a circle even though he'd already looked. Already pushed his senses out for signs of anyone.

"Raph," he called out, even though it was a half-hearted attempt. He couldn't sense Raph, or anyone else, nearby. "Raphael," he called out again, even though his voice cracked in the middle. He fought off the panic as it occurred to him that the only two options for why he would be completely alone at the beach house would include that he was dreaming or that he had died.

There was a sound behind him and he spun around and came face to face with two adult foxes. He'd never met them before, but he immediately knew who they were.

"I died?" he rasped out.

Akito and Machi's birth parents glanced at each other and then turned back to Leonardo.

He watched their mother shake her head, but he didn't feel at all reassured.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N** : Its fun that we're going all supernatural-y in chapter 13, amiright?

* * *

Raph stared at Leo. He would swear to anyone who walked into this room that he'd just heard Leo call out his name. And that Leo's breathing had quickened.

But Leo's face remained slackened in sleep. No, not sleep. A coma.

Donnie had given Akito a sedative a few hours ago and while it surprisingly didn't send Akito into sleep so he could rest, it did make him extremely lethargic. Raph turned now and looked towards the open bathroom door where Akito sat slumped against the doorframe.

If Leo had said something out loud, Raph thought to himself, Akito would've heard it. He would've perked up.

Donnie had placed a sensor around Leo's forehead which hooked him up wirelessly to Don's machines. And Raph figured if Leo _was_ showing signs of coming out of this thing, that the genius would call him. Or come barging into their bathroom.

But neither of those things happened either. And yet, Raph still stared hard at Leo. Something was going on inside Leo's head that was upsetting the leader turtle. Raph could feel it poking at his own brain. That's the way it had always been for him when it came to Leo in distress. And Raph had never been a turtle who could sit back and allow it to continue.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he began to match his inhales and exhales with Leonardo's.

* * *

"You're not dead, Leonardo," the female fox said. "I'm sorry to say that you're injured. But, well, we thought maybe we could take this opportunity to come talk to you."

Leo tried to slow his breathing as his eyes darted back and forth between the two foxes. He turned again and looked around him. Around his beach. He could feel the sand. Hear the waves.

"This doesn't make sense."

"I know," she said. "But we don't know how much time we have, so we'd like it if you could just listen."

Leo looked back to them and took in their earnest faces, told himself to calm down, straightened his shell and then nodded to them.

The female fox smiled in relief now that they seemed to have Leonardo's full attention. "My name is Tomoko and this is Akio."

Leo's eyes widened and Tomoko smiled.

"Yes, we tried to combine our names when we named Akito," she said. She glanced again at her husband. He was being abnormally quiet and appeared to be studying the turtle.

"And Machi?" Leo asked, deciding to take advantage of the situation.

Tomoko smiled again and Leo immediately saw Machi's smile.

"She was named after my grandmother. She was a very strong-willed and fierce matriarch."

Now it was Leo's turn to smile. "It's quite fitting," he said to them. He watched them glance at each other with a knowing, although somewhat sad look, before they turned back to him. He was about to ask another question, but froze when their eyes suddenly widened. Leo turned to see what they were seeing and immediately shielded his eyes from the bright and extremely warm light that had appeared directly behind him.

He lowered his hand when the light dimmed and found his favorite turtle suddenly standing on the beach next to him.

"Raphael," he breathed out and immediately placed his hands on Raph's shoulders. He watched as his fingers pressed into solid emerald flesh before he pulled Raph into his plastron and squeezed him tight. "I couldn't find you. I thought I was dead," he whispered quickly. "I thought I had died."

"Ya ain't dead," Raph growled back at him as he wrapped his arms around Leo's shell.

"How did you get here?" Leo asked, his voice muffled slightly as he pressed his face into Raphael's neck.

"Meditation," Raphael said.

Leo felt Raph press kisses to the side of his face and quickly remembered that they weren't alone. He released Raphael, although he entwined one of his hands within Raph's fingers and turned so that Raphael could see their visitors.

"It's so nice to meet you, as well, Raphael," Tomoko said as soon as the turtles broke their hug. She looked towards her husband with a slight look of disbelief, but Akio could also see excitement now that they suddenly had the opportunity to talk to both turtles.

"Uh," Raph said, his tone unsure. He eyed the two foxes and while he also immediately knew who they were, he was just as confused as Leo had been about their presence. He looked to Leo and Leo nodded reassuringly. He continued to stare wide-eyed at the fox pair, but he took in Leo's easy stance and did his best to mimic it. "Well, its – its nice to meet you, too."

Tomoko seemed to remember their main purpose and turned somber as she took a step towards the turtles. "We know that taking in our children has put you and your family in danger. On more than one occasion. But, the two of you together," she said, gesturing to the two of them and their clasped hands. "You have loved them and you have given them a safe home and we couldn't be more grateful."

"You have also taught them skills that will help keep them safe," Akio said, speaking for the first time. He stepped up beside his wife. "We knew that if we had kids, that they would be in danger. But, we wanted a family and we loved them and we thought -," he paused and then struggled with the next words. "We thought we'd be there to protect them." Tomoko reached over and rested a hand on Akio's shoulder so she could give him a small reassuring squeeze.

"You have given us great peace by not only loving them but also by protecting them over and over again," Tomoko said for him.

Akio nodded. "My brothers - ," he paused for a moment. "We were raised differently. I wish they could see that they have a choice. And since we can't be there for Akito and Machi, I'm glad to know that they are growing up with the influence of you two and your own good brothers. Your own good family."

Raph squeezed Leo's fingers, and while Leo also appreciated the abundance of praise, he frowned.

"Wait, brothers? You have more than one?"

Akio nodded to Leo. "Yes. And they were raised to be members of the resistance as well, although it's hard to tell what they are doing now. From where we are, anyway."

"The kids have special abilities," Raphael said, jumping in and focusing his eyes on Tomoko. "Do you have any family left that we could go find? Someone who could explain to the kids what this is all about? Help them with control?"

Leo's eyes quickly shifted to Raphael. Raph, feeling Leo's gaze on him, turned his head towards Leonardo and murmured, "You were right. We should've gone right away to find someone to help. Now yer hurt and Akito feels terrible and I should've just listened to you in the first place."

It was Leo's turn to squeeze Raphael's fingers. "I'm going to be okay, Raphie," he said quietly. And he meant it. There was no way he was getting this chance to learn from the kids' birth parents and not be able to bring back what he'd learned for the future. "We're all going to be okay."

Raph stared back at Leo's determined blue eyes. He loved Leo. Trusted him. And this self-assured, leader turtle was one of his favorite kinds of Leo, because Raphael could always depend on leader turtle to get the job done.

"Ya better follow through on that," he replied with a pointed look.

"I do," Tomoko said, bringing them back to Raphael's question. "I wish we had the time to explain more about their abilities, because my older sister will not be easy to find."

"Akito might have an easier time if he gets to hear it from someone with experience anyway," Akio murmured to her.

"What's her name?" Leo asked.

"Suzu," Tomoko said, feeling a sense of sadness as she said her big sister's name.

"Find her," Akio said, grabbing Tomoko's arm suddenly. "She will help you."

They turned away and Leo understood that they were leaving. But Tomoko turned back to them suddenly.

"Machi wouldn't remember us," she said with a small, sad shrug. "She was so little. Just a ball of red fur. And Akito was still so young as well. But, please – could you please tell them we love them? That we're so proud of them?"

Leo swallowed over a lump in his throat as he nodded. He could see the heartbreak in their faces and understood it completely. He knew how he would feel to be separated from these children that he was lucky enough to share with them.

And then they were gone. Leo looked around for good measure and only found Raphael blinking rapidly beside him as he ducked his emerald face. He pulled Raph back into a hug.

"That was surreal," he murmured.

"This whole thing is," Raph replied, "cause in case ya haven't noticed, yer not exactly awake."

Leo frowned. He didn't remember what happened. He pulled his head back to ask and Raphael cut him off.

"A fuckin coma, Fearless," he growled at him.

Leo shut his mouth. It didn't matter, at the moment, what had happened to him, because the result had left Raphael hurting.

"Now you listen to me," Raph said. "I am gonna leave," he squeezed his hands around Leo's arms as Leo's eyes widened. "But you are gonna follow me, just like I've followed you in and out of meditation a million times before."

"You think that will work?" Leo asked in a whisper.

Raph steeled his face and nodded at Leo.

"You'll come back if it doesn't work?"

Raph shook his head and did his best to grin at Leo. "No, cause it's gonna work."

"Wait," Leo said, quickly remembering how desperate he'd felt when he had first found himself alone on this beach. He wrapped his fingers around Raph's neck and pulled his emerald turtle's face to him so he could press their lips together. He pushed his tongue into Raphael's mouth and twisted it around Raph's tongue as he felt Raph's fingers press into his arms again.

Raph's eyes shone when he pulled away. But his voice was strong as he growled at Leo.

" _Follow me_."


	14. Chapter 14

Akito sat and watched his grandfather while Master Splinter stood and watched Raphael. Raphael's eyes were closed, but he recognized that his son's breathing was too deep and purposeful for him to be asleep.

"I've never seen anything like the bond these two share," Master Splinter said, almost to himself although he knew Akito could hear him. He watched Akito perk up, although he remained quiet. "Raphael has reached Leonardo through meditation."

"How can you tell?" Akito asked, venturing to hope that if his dad could be reached, that he would be okay.

"I can feel it," Master Splinter said to him. "I bet if you came over here it would practically smack you in the face."

Akito huffed out a laugh at the uncharacteristic joke from his grandfather and watched as Master Splinter turned to smile at him in return.

"He's not going to allow you to blame yourself when he wakes up," Master Splinter said, turning back towards his two eldest, "so you should probably hurry up and finish your sulking."

"I'm not sulking, grandfather," Akito said, evenly. The medication his Uncle Donnie had given him earlier had certainly calmed his hysteria, but now he was left to wallow. "He wanted me to work on control and I refused. I should've done what he asked. Maybe he wouldn't be hurt now."

Master Splinter hummed and ran a hand down his beard. "Maybe. But whatever happened in that dojo also knocked you out, which is not something that has happened before." He turned and examined his sad grandson. "One of the most important lessons I have learned, young one, is that we should not dwell on the past. Only on what your plan will be for the future."

Akito ducked his head, his teenage mind unsure if he should roll his eyes or take his grandfather's words to heart. He lifted his head a few moments later when he felt Machi settle on the ground next to him. He looked towards her and found her with her eyes squeezed shut.

"Machi?" he asked.

Master Splinter looked up as well and took in Machi's scrunched face. She was supposed to be out in the main room with everyone else. But before he could try to convince her to rejoin the rest of the group he heard her mutter something.

"What?" Akito asked, leaning closer to her.

"It's buzzing," she said, louder this time.

Akito began to look between her and their fathers, desperate for her buzzing ability to actually mean that they were coming back.

Master Splinter had never seen Machi's ability first-hand and he also found himself looking between his granddaughter and his sons until finally Raphael's green eyes opened.

Raph took a moment to look around the bathroom where he found his father and both of his kids earnestly waiting. He zeroed in on Machi's pinched expression.

"She says it's buzzing," Akito said, quickly.

Raph moved quickly and scooped Machi up into his arms before he seated himself back in his chair and situated her in his lap. Akito stood finally as well and moved to stand next to his father and grandfather. Raph grabbed one of Akito's hands with his free hand and stared at Leo's still impassive face.

"Come on, Fearless," Raph whispered.

He wished there was a fool-proof way to make sure this plan of his would actually work. It had tore at him to leave Leo when Leo's blue eyes had been begging him to stay. But getting Leo out of this coma was the priority, so he had steeled himself away from that unspoken plea and was essentially using himself as bait, counting on their bond and their desperate desire to be together to have Leo force himself awake.

"Holy shit," Raph said and his face split into a lopsided grin as he watched Leo's eyes open and immediately focus on him.

Leo could see Raphael. But it took him a moment to orient himself away from the sun and the sand and the sound of the waves to this quiet, cramped bathroom. It was the first time he'd ever been happy to leave his beach.

"You sound shocked," Leo said, with a sudden smirk for Raphael. "Like you didn't think that was going to work." He listened to Raph huff out a laugh which confirmed his suspicion. "Jerk," he said with a grin as he sat forward and Raphael quickly shifted Machi to one side so that he could lean forward and meet Leo for a kiss.

Leo stood and offered his father a quick thanks as Master Splinter handed him a towel.

"I hope you haven't been too worried," he said to his father.

"Are you sure you should be standing?" Or moving?" Master Splinter asked, watching in disbelief as Leo practically hopped out of the tub to dry off.

"You okay, kiddo?" Raph whispered to Machi, pleased to see her face was smooth once again. She nodded in return and waited for Leo to dry off before bolting forward to happily hug him.

Leo scooped her up and smiled as he felt her arms tighten around his neck. Then, without saying anything, he wrapped an arm around Akito and dragged him into the hug as well. Akito didn't hesitate to return the affection and was quickly shushed by Leo as he tried to apologize.

"Leo!" Donnie said, rushing into the bathroom. His machine downstairs had signaled that Leo's brain waves had changed, but Donnie had expected to find a malfunctioning sensor band, not an awake and already standing Leonardo.

Mikey charged into the back of Donnie, having quickly followed their genius brother in order to so see what would cause him to so frantically appear out of his lab and rush into Raph and Leo's apartment.

"You're up!" Mikey said, pushing past Donnie to join the group hug.

"How can you be up?" Donnie asked, still staring at a Leo who looked as though he'd just had a peaceful rest and not a medically-threatening coma.

"This is so awesome, Leo," Mikey said, practically jumping up and down even though he still had his arms wrapped tightly around Leo, Akito and Machi. "You kick coma ass!"

It was habit for Master Splinter to reprimand his sons for boisterous cursing, although even he had to admit, Leonardo did appear to have kicked this coma's ass.

"You're pinching my arm, Mikey," Leo said with a grin.

"It just doesn't make sense that you're already so awake. And upright," Donnie said.

"Then adjust your arm, Leo," Mike said, "cause I'm not done huggin."

Leo could only laugh as he released Akito and set Machi down on the ground, forcing Mikey to step back as well. He was quickly embraced again, though, as Raph wrapped his arms around Leo from behind and rested his head on one of Leo's shoulders.

"Nicely done," Raph whispered to him.

"You were the mastermind," Leo murmured back to him. He had other things he wanted to say to Raphael, sappy things about the strength and brightness of Raphael's life force. How easy it had been for Leo to follow him. How much he dearly loved Raphael. But for now he turned to their kids and said, "Your pops and I just had a very interesting meeting. And we have a lot to share with the two of you."

"Hold it," Donnie said, throwing his hands up in exasperations. "You," he said, pointing to Leo. "Downstairs. My lab. Right now."

"Donnie, I feel great, really, and - ,"

" _Now_ , Leo," Donnie said in the doctor tone of voice that everyone knew to obey. And obey quickly. He watched Leo sigh in defeat and turned to lead the way downstairs.

* * *

The rest of their family had been extremely pleased to see Leo appear out of his room and he grinned at them as he followed Donnie out of the apartment to head downstairs. It also served as their cue to give up the vigil they were keeping in Raph and Leo's main room and go home to get some rest. Master Splinter settled himself down on their couch, though, and patted the cushions next to him for Akito and Machi.

But Casey had followed the turtles down to Donnie's lab and asked Raph if he could talk to him while Leo sat through an examination. Casey had called Mona while they'd been waiting to see why Leo was still unconscious since Akito and that rabbit had woken up without issue. He knew something had happened between her and Raph back at the garage and he demanded that she tell him what had been said. Now he wanted to see how angry Raph was.

Raph agreed and moved to one side of the lab before leaning on a lab table where he could still see Leo. He watched as Mikey spun himself around on a stool in front of Leo and chirped away about something while Donnie hooked Leo up to a machine.

Raph spoke before Casey had a chance, though. He figured April should've been there too for this, but maybe Casey deserved to hear it from him first.

"I'm quittin the garage, Case," he said.

Casey's eyes widened. "Raph, no," he said. "Look, I know Mona has a big mouth - ,"

"It's not her, Casey," Raph said, cutting him off.

"Mona is temporary, though, ya know? We get caught up and she's gone and everything will be back to normal."

"It ain't Mona," Raph said.

Casey's eyes shifted away from Raphael. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Look, I know this whole thing was scary but Leo is gonna be fine. I mean, look at him. He's not gonna need ya around to babysit him while he recovers."

"I had already decided this before Leo's coma," Raph said. "Leo is becomin more active in the patrols and he shouldn't be out there without someone watchin his back."

"He's got a fleet of ninja!" Casey said, throwing his arms up. "We've been partners in the garage for a - ," he quickly tried to do the math in his head before giving up, "- a long time!"

"Yeah," Raph said with a nod, "but you know I've been partners with Leo a lot longer. And if he's gonna be out there, I need to be out there with him."

Casey huffed out an aggravated noise. One misfortunate patrol where Leo gets himself hurt and Raph was ditching him. He glanced at Raphael, knowing he couldn't say that thought out loud.

"We ain't teenagers anymore," Casey said finally. "Why does he have to be out there? He's got a slew of younger ninja to do the job."

"Call it on-the-job trainin," Raph said. He tipped his head at Casey and grinned. "I can't believe ya just said we ain't teenagers anymore. Yer really givin me shit for patrollin? What would vigilante Casey Jones say to you right now?"

"Don't make me laugh," Casey said, crossing his arms as he suppressed a grin. "I'm mad at you."

"I will miss workin with ya in the garage," Raph said.

"Stop, you'll make me weepy."

"Shut up."

"Ya leavin me yer tools?"

"No way in hell."

Casey rolled his eyes before glancing over at Leo again. He missed his teenaged vigilante years. He always boasted that he worked best alone, but in truth, some of his best memories were running around the city with Raphael. And even though Raph had his brothers, Casey had always felt like he was Raph's best friend. At least until Raph and Leo had gotten together. And there was just no competing with Leo. Just like right now. It looked like Leo had won again.

"Mona's right you know," Casey said, quietly, shifting his frustrated expression away from Leo. "Leo does get you all the time as it is and now he's _literally_ gonna get you all the time." He watched as Raph frowned at him. "Look, ya know I respect Leo as this family's leader, even though _most_ families don't have designated leaders," he murmured. "But Leo and I ain't exactly friends," he said with a shrug. "And I don't see how you and me are gonna stay friends if you quit the garage to hang out with Leo all damn day."

Raph crossed his own arms and stared down at the lab floor for a moment. He didn't appreciate the Mona comment, but he could see some truth in Casey's concern.

"We'll still live right next door to each other," Raph offered. "Our daughters are best friends. We're still family." He watched as Casey shrugged his shoulders, clearly not convinced.

"Alright, Raph," Donnie called over to him.

Raph squeezed Casey's shoulder as he passed him, and Casey sighed as he watched his old friend rush back to Leo's side. He slipped into the stairwell quietly and headed upstairs to his own apartment.

"He check out okay?" Raph asked, linking his fingers through one of Leo's hands.

"Strangely yes," Donnie said. "Apparently modern science needs to be made aware that you can meditate your way out of a coma."

"Donnie's just mad because his big brain and fancy machines can't explain this," Mikey said and laughed as Donnie ducked away from the finger he tried to poke into one of Donnie's temples.

"I told you, I feel great, Donnie," Leo said from where he sat.

"I'm glad, Leo," Donnie said.

"Stop pouting," Mikey said. "Just be glad that Leo is okay. And hey, if you want a second opinion, he can just come back tomorrow!"

"It's not funny, _Mikey_ ," Donnie said.

"Come on, D! If we didn't have humor, what would we have?"

"Ulcers," Donnie said, letting a grin reach his face as he relented and slung an arm around Mikey's shoulders. "Probably ulcers."

* * *

 **A/N** : When I originally posted this, readers were crazy amazing when leaving reviews - and I appreciated each and every thoughtful note. With that in mind, I felt like I had to leave a little personal rationalization for this chapter, mainly because I knew it went against what some people thought about Leo being in a coma for so short a time

I called them, "Team Donnie"

I was definitely building the story up to Leo being in a coma, mainly because I had to come up with a way for him to have a little face-to-face heart-to-heart with the fox parents. But I had no intention of leaving him in a coma. And although it may not be medically-sound reasoning, I do feel like if anyone could force his brain out of a coma, it would be the king of meditation, especially with Raph's help. Plus, they're mutant turtles, so they heal faster, amiright?

And since I've got plans for them, its time for Leo to get back up and "walk it off". The shorter the coma, the shorter the recovery period and all that.

But maybe we should all just take a moment and be thankful I'm not a doctor.


	15. Chapter 15

Leo watched as Donnie and Mikey left the lab to go upstairs before he wrapped his legs around Raphael and pulled him in closer to where he sat on the medical cot.

"Casey looked upset," Leo said.

Raph let his hands slide up Leo's legs. "Just told him I was quittin the garage."

"You didn't get a chance to do that when you were there earlier?"

"Between Mona hittin on me and the emergency alert – no."

"Mona hit-,"

Raph quickly covered Leo's mouth with his own. He broke the kiss only to murmur, "don't want to talk about her," before he began to kiss Leo again. Their last kiss had been in the middle of Leo's coma brain and he tightened his hands around Leo's thighs, the muscles of which reflexively tightened around his waist in return. "You followed me," he finally managed to say.

"It was easy," Leo said, leaning back far enough to be able to focus on Raph's face. "Your energy is as warm and bright as you are."

Raph huffed out a breath through his nose. "Yer not goin loopy on me again, are ya?"

"No," Leo said, bumping his nose into Raph's nose. "You've always been my light in the darkness, Takara."

Raph pulled Leo forward and off the cot, forcing him to stand on his feet. "You can call me whatever ya want, Fearless, as long as ya keep comin back to me." He pulled Leo in again and kissed him before he moved them into the elevator to head upstairs. "Ya want to talk to the kids now or rest? It's late." He watched Leo lean his shell against the back wall of the elevator and stare at the floor.

"Usagi leave?"

Raph frowned. "I haven't seen him since I attacked him in the dojo, so I think so."

Leo's eyes lifted to Raph's face as the elevator doors opened and they exited into their apartment's hallway. "You attacked him?" They stood in the hallway, not ready to enter their home and face their children before they finished this discussion.

Raph lifted one shoulder in a half shrug while noting that Leo's tone wasn't exactly disapproving. "He was there. You were unconscious."

"Raph," Leo said, although without conviction because he was tired and the reprimand was mostly out of habit.

Another half shrug and lopsided grin. "Felt good, too." Raph watched Leo's face and felt frustration when he couldn't tell what Leo was thinking. "What was he doin here?"

Leo sighed after a few more moments of silent thinking. "Did you see the bunnies?" He asked first and watched Raph frown and shake his head. "Usagi was unhappy with their performance on whatever mission he took them on. He was unhappy that they seemed unable to function as a team without Akito. And he was unhappy that he even let me train them as a team at all."

Raph's frown deepened as he heard Leo talk and silently vowed to punch the rabbit again.

"He brought the bunnies to say goodbye. For good," Leo added.

"What?" Raphael asked, honestly shocked.

"I didn't even get a chance to talk to the bunnies myself. Usagi was still reaming me out when Akito came in."

"Reaming _you_ out?" Raph asked, incredulously.

Now it was Leo's turn to half shrug and Raphael growled when he saw that it was accompanied by a look of self-doubt.

"I'm fuckin glad I punched him."

Leo didn't respond and instead tried to internally push Usagi's words aside. Usagi had said a great many things to him over the past couple years that he'd pushed aside for his own personal sanity and he was beginning to feel aggravated that these words, words that criticized his teaching abilities, were sticking.

He lifted his eyes to Raph's when he felt Raph's arm around his shoulders. He could feel heat coming off of Raphael and it made him feel not only safe, but also sleepy.

"We're gonna put the kids in bed and then we're gonna go to sleep. And we'll start again tomorrow," Raph said.

Leo let his forehead fall to Raphael's and closed his eyes before nodding.

"And I know we have some work to do in regards to the kids-,"

Leo opened his eyes. "I think I have an idea for that."

Raph grinned at him. "Of course ya do. But before we do yer plan, we're gonna do mine."

* * *

"Whatever mission they were on really upset Violet, but she said she wasn't allowed to tell me the details. And then she said they were actually all there to say goodbye. I was already upset that she was upset and that they went on some strange mission without me and then to hear that -," Akito paused and lifted his face to make eye contact with both of his fathers, before he glanced over at Machi who sat seated next to him at the table.

Raph nodded as Leo listened thoughtfully. So far, this is what they'd been expecting to hear when they'd called a family meeting and asked Akito to sit and tell them what happened.

"I was so angry when I came into the dojo, but I didn't feel the energy at all. It didn't appear until a split second before it was released. I had no control over it. I almost had no warning. And I don't know why it knocked me out." He paused again and took a breath. "I'm so sorry, dad. I didn't mean to put you in danger. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Of course you didn't, buddy," Leo said. "And I think you actually did us all a favor." He watched as Akito and Machi frowned at him and almost smiled. The second point of this meeting was to tell the kids about what they'd learned from their birth parents. But the first point was to check in with Akito after the dojo incident.

They sat at the table in the beach house's main room. Raph's plan for Leo's recovery was to immediately fly everyone out to the island. He figured if Leo's coma brain had taken him directly to the beach house as a refuge, then Raph would follow suit and get Leo back there as soon as he possibly could for his recovery.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to her," Akito said. "I'm not even sure when they left in the middle of all that."

"You'll see her again," Leo said.

Akito lifted his chin and could only nod at his dad's determined tone of voice. That tone of voice had never let him down before.

"But, we have some work to do first," Raph said. "I don't want to sound discouragin but you have to agree that Violet and anyone else around you is in danger until we learn more about this energy of yers. Right?"

Akito's eyes dropped but he couldn't argue. He'd had the same thought himself. His eyes moved to his side to look at Machi again. She nodded at him.

"You got mad and quit because you're too used to being _perfect_ at everything right away," Machi said, adding in an eye roll for emphasis, which actually got Akito to grin at her.

Raph chuckled as he glanced over at his own perfectionist. Leo had a smile, but he still looked thoughtful.

"It's a lot going on at once," Leo finally said. He glanced over at Raphael for a moment before turning back to the kids. "I don't think I've ever told you this story before, but I was still recovering from a pretty painful cracked shell injury when Master Splinter announced that I would begin training to be our team leader, which was also the same time that someone," quick nod over in Raphael's direction, "decided he didn't want to be friends with me anymore." He reached under the table and rested a hand over one of Raph's legs, rubbing a thumb reassuringly back and forth. "It didn't take long before I got really frustrated. I ended up alone out in the sewer tunnels where I proceeded to have a complete tantrum."

"Ya did what?" Raph asked. His eyes widened as he tried and failed to picture Leonardo having a tantrum.

Leo nodded sheepishly, but avoided looking at Raphael. "I even managed to break one of my toes when I kicked a pipe."

Raph thought back and frowned. He remembered Leo's broken toe during that time period. "Master Splinter said ya broke yer toe during one of yer private trainin sessions."

Leo still wasn't looking at him but he nodded again. "Master Splinter found me in that tunnel, which was probably pretty easy considering the amount of noise I was making. It was his idea to tell you guys I hurt it during training."

"Leo," Raph whispered.

"No, Raph," Leo said, tightening his fingers over Raph's leg. "It wasn't your fault. I had a lesson to learn." He finally met Raph's eyes with a determined look, although he noted that Raph didn't look at all convinced. He turned back to the kids. "I'm sharing this story with you because these kinds of situations happen to everyone. And sometimes you don't even know that your world is becoming overwhelming until it's too late," Leo said, locking his eyes with Akito, hoping that Akito understood. "It can help to have someone to talk to so that it doesn't get to that point. At least, that's what Master Splinter told me when he found me. That's when our morning meditation sessions became more routine. And we'd talk after meditating, if I wanted or needed to."

Raph ducked his head, a move that didn't go unnoticed by Leo, and he hoped again that sharing this memory hadn't hurt Raphael, because he could see a determination in their son's eyes that had been previously missing for weeks, if not months.

"I will miss Violet without moping about it," Akito said. "And, I- I need help with this energy. I thought I could ignore it, but that clearly wasn't a good strategy."

Leo squeezed Raph's leg again and smiled at Akito.

"So, are we going to start working on it out here?" Akito asked.

Leo leaned back and crossed his arms over his plastron. "Nope."

"Wait," Akito said, sitting straighter, because the sensei he knew would never turn down a training opportunity, "you're giving up on me after that story?"

Leo narrowed his eyes at their son. He placed his hands on the table as he leaned forward in his seat. "Do you think we'd ever give up on you or Machi?"

The worry in Akito's eyes disappeared as he quickly shook his head.

"Yer dad and I have something to tell you two," Raph said, jumping back into the conversation as he remembered the other purpose of this family sit-down. He looked back to Leo and nodded.

"Raphael was able to reach me while I was in that coma. We were here, actually, right out on our beach. And I think because perhaps we were on another plane, we were able to have visitors."

Raph watched the kids begin to frown in confusion the longer Leo took to try to set up the explanation for this.

"We met yer parents," Raph said abruptly, shooting Leo a smirk.

That wiped the frowns off Akito's and Machi's faces, although they still looked confused.

"I don't know if you remember this, but their names were Akio and Tomoko," Leo said. "They said they combined their names to name you, Akito."

"That's right," Akito said, nodding slowly. "I never told you that."

"You never told me that either," Machi said, turning to frown at her brother.

Akito offered her a small shrug. "You don't remember them at all. I didn't see the point in telling you."

"I'd still want to know anything _you_ know about them," Machi insisted.

"No scowlin at each other durin family meetings," Raph interrupted.

"Did you ask about my name?" Machi asked hopefully as she turned away from Akito.

"Yes," Leo said. "You were named after your mother's grandmother. Apparently she was quite strong-willed and fierce."

Raph and Akito both chuckled at that while Machi sat back in her seat and smiled.

"What else did they say?" Akito asked eagerly.

"They wanted us to tell you how much they loved you and how proud they are of both of you."

Akito's eyes ducked. "They said proud?"

"Very proud," Raph rumbled at him as he looked between the two of them.

"They also said that your mother has an older sister," Leo said. "And that we should find her because she'll be able to help explain these special abilities."

"And hopefully help you two learn to control them," Raph said.

"So we're going to find her?" Machi asked, already feeling excited. "An aunt?"

"We're gonna try," Raph said.

Machi grinned up at Akito, hopeful for the first time that there was going to be something that could help both of them. But Akito was frowning again.

"Aunt Suzu?" Akito asked.

Leo looked quickly to Raph before turning back to their kids. "You remember her? You've never mentioned her."

Akito shrugged. "Sort of. I don't remember how old I was the last time I saw her. Maybe after Machi was born? She disappeared. My parents couldn't find her."

Raph sighed. The fox parents did say she would be hard to find.

"We're going to do our best to find her," Leo said, his voice once again determined. "For now, why don't you two go join everyone else out on the beach?"

"Yeah, let em know our meetin is over and they're no longer banned from the house," Raph added. He waited until they were out of the room before he turned back to Leo. "So, how are we gonna find someone who doesn't want to be found, Fearless?"

"Easy," Leo said.

"Easy," Raph griped at him as he pulled Leo's legs up into his lap. "When her own sister couldn't find her?"

"Yes," Leo said, although he had to force the word out as he became hyperaware of Raph's hands traveling down his legs to his feet. "A lot of time has passed between then and now and -," he huffed out a breath as Raph massaged over the soles of his feet.

"I don't even remember which toe it was," Raph murmured, eyeing Leo's feet.

Leo slumped as much as his shell would allow in the chair as Raph continued the foot massage. "It doesn't matter. It healed. And I did too."

"Healed from the pain I caused ya?" Raph asked, looking up sharply at him.

"I didn't mean it like that, Raphie. I meant I healed from my cracked shell and my poor attitude. I had to learn that I couldn't fall apart like that if I was going to be the team leader. I couldn't watch out for all three of you if my own problems were going to tear me down that easily. It toughened my shell."

"Makes it sound like ya weren't allowed to have yer own feeling, though," Raph said rather softly as he kept his eyes pinned on Leo's face. He watched as Leo predictably ducked his eyes and rubbed a hand over the back of his own neck. Raph's eyes flickered to the bicep muscle in that arm as it flexed with the movement and he pressed his fingers deeper into the foot massage before returning his gaze to Leos' face.

"Well," Leo said, "I'm not sure that I did." It was a brave statement, but he knew it sounded a little callous as well. "I mean, I loved you guys and Master Splinter, but I had a job to do."

Raph chewed on his lower lip for a moment and stared back at Leo, unsure which of the several emotions he was feeling to give voice to first. But before he could open his mouth, Leo began speaking again.

"I'm glad it's not still like that," Leo offered. "You brought me back, Raph. You know that, right? You want to blame yourself for choices that I made. But _you're_ the one who made me Leo again and not just leader turtle. You gave me a reason to feel again. Really feel. I'm a much better version of myself because of you."

The words that Raph had been ready to say before vanished from his brain. He reached down and quickly pulled Leo's chair closer until it was wedged against his own before he leaned over and kissed Leo until they both began to pant.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you, Leonardo?"

Leo grinned before he raised an eye ridge in mock concentration. "Well you broke into my coma and forced my ass back to the land of the living, so I think I have a pretty good gauge on it."

Raph shook his head at his smartass turtle. "I _should_ feel guilty, ya know. But every time I try, ya talk me out of it like some goddamn Houdini," Raph said. "It ain't fair."

"Because I love you back and I won't let you feel guilty for something that happened a million years ago that doesn't even bother me," Leo said, pulling Raph's face back towards him so he could kiss him again.

"Jerk," Raphael breathed into his mouth as he happily relented.

"You two sure you're ready to let people back in the house?" Mikey asked as he and Woody came into the main room. "And the answer better be yes because its time for us to make lunch."

Leo leaned back into his own chair and waved in the affirmative to Mikey and Woody before saying, "My plan is going to take a few days to get ready - ,"

"We're not leaving here for _several_ days. For yer recovery," Raph said pointedly.

Leo raised his hands up in front of his plastron. "This won't require any exertion from me."

"I didn't say you weren't allowed to exert yerself," Raph said, sliding his hands across Leo's legs as a lecherous grin covered his face.

"We can totally hear you!" Mikey called out while Woody chuckled.

"Can it, Mikey!" Raph grumbled at him. He turned back to Leo. "What is this plan of yers, anyway?"

"It's simple," Leo said, his eyes darkening as he watched Raph's fingers massage over the muscles in his legs. "We use bait."


	16. Chapter 16

"Papa, come boogey board with us!" Machi said, running across the beach to where Raph and Leo sat with their shells pressed into the sand. She pulled on Raph's hand and Leo tilted his head enough to catch Casey and Shadow in his peripheral. They were standing in the surf waiting and Leo watched as Casey did his best not to glance their way, although he actually did so repeatedly, while also doing his best to conceal his hope that Raph would join them.

"She pulled the papa card," Leo murmured to Raphael.

Raph heard Leo's encouragement to go join the group and heaved himself forward so that it appeared Machi actually pulled him to his feet. He froze after standing though and glared down at Leo.

"Yer gonna stay here?"

"Won't move," Leo said, shooting him a placating smile. And an eye roll.

Satisfied, Raph ignored the fake smile and the eye roll and headed into the ocean with Machi, Shadow and Casey.

Leo watched forlornly as they all played in the waves. He hadn't been invited because Dr. Donnie said he was not allowed to swim in the ocean. He was not allowed to jump down from the house's second or third floor decks. He was not allowed to be alone. And he was also not only _not_ allowed to train, but he was not allowed to be within twenty feet of anyone else training, either.

Leo thought maybe Donatello was being over-dramatic.

However, as if to remind Leo why he should avoid the ocean, one particularly large wave rolled in, swallowing both Shadow and Machi for a moment. Both girls were tossed down towards the sandy bottom before they reappeared, each one hefted above the ocean water by Raphael's arms. Casey was soon next to him, checking on them with Raph as both girls sputtered and rubbed at the salt water in their eyes. They were recovered before Leo could even decide if he should get up and check on them as well and he watched as both girls turned and sprinted back out to try to catch another wave.

Raph turned to Casey with a grin and a shrug before they began to move back out into the deeper water as well.

Leo turned away from the waves and smiled as his father returned from his beach walk and took a seat next to him.

"You're feeling well?"

"Hai, sensei," Leo answered as Akito plopped down soundlessly in the sand on his other side and began to watch the boogey boarders as well.

"Hey dad," Akito said, saying the words even though he knew he had his father's attention the moment he sat down.

"You okay?" Leo asked, thinking that Akito looked a little nervous.

"I just wanted to say something," Akito said, running his fingers through the sand at his sides as he kept his eyes on Machi and the others in the waves. "I, uh, I remember that day my uncle was killed. The tents and the fire and that bloody injury on your side," Akito said. "And I remember you carrying me and Machi into the woods despite all of that and I asked you if we could come live with you."

Leo glanced over at Akito again. "What's up, bud?" he asked, unsure of where this was going.

Akito met his eyes. "Its just - I've always missed them - our birth parents - but I know how lucky Mach and I were that you brought us into your family. You didn't have to do that. And I guess I just wanted to say thank you." He watched as a teasing smile grew on his dad's face. "What?"

Leo's smiled grew wider as he said, "I guess it's just a family tradition."

"Tradition?"

"Well, I happen to have another story for you," Leo said.

"Is this the one about mutation day?" Master Splinter asked from his other side, a small smile on his own face as well.

"Hey, spoiler alert, sensei," Leo said, sending his own father a grin.

"Dad-," Akito said.

"No, no, this is a good story," Leo said. "Did I ever tell you that my brothers and I were adopted?"

"I'm being serious," Akito said.

"Me too," Leo said, still grinning at him. "Your Grandpa Splinter is not actually my biological father."

"You still didn't have to adopt _us_ ," Akito said, doing his best to ignore his dad's teasing tone of voice.

Leo actually laughed. "I have another story for you. Because I was also a teenager when I went to your grandfather and thanked him for raising me and my brothers as if we were his own." Leo turned serious as he glanced at his own father before turning back to Akito. "And he said to me that it was never a choice. That we were family the second he saw that we needed him. And it was never a choice for your pops and I when it came to you and Machi, either. It was an automatic family bond. And we're very lucky to have you both. Don't you ever forget that."

Akito finally smiled at his father and grandfather and nodded before turning away to watch the boogey boarders again. "Okay then," he whispered.

"Why don't we leave them to play and you two head upstairs with me so we can check on lunch?" Master Splinter suggested.

Leo nodded in agreement, reached over and gave Akito a one-armed hug around his shoulders and then stood to let Raph know where he was headed.

* * *

Donnie and Sadie entered the main room and Donnie stopped mid-sentence when he saw Mikey immediately look up from Gabriel to glare at his purple-clad brother.

"What?" Donnie asked.

"All of our deli meat is gone," Woody said calmly.

"All. Of. It," Mikey said, although his tone was not quite as calm.

"What? How?" Donnie asked. They'd only arrived two nights ago. He dared to dart a glance in Miwa's direction where she sat on one of the couches.

"Hey!" Miwa said.

Donnie shrugged apologetically at her. "Well we are almost out of fruit because of you," he said in a low voice.

"I'm not even allowed to eat deli meat while pregnant unless its been cooked," Miwa muttered back.

" _Your_ son flung every piece onto the ceiling," Mikey said, pointing upwards.

Donnie and Sadie made their way into the kitchen quickly where they spotted several piece of bologna, ham and turkey slices on the ceiling, and a few others on the floor below.

Donnie's eyes darted down to Gabriel. "Why?"

"To see if they would stick," Gabe said, excitedly. He'd just gone through his explanation with his uncles when they'd found him in the middle of his experiment.

"So you threw every piece?" Sadie asked, honest confusion on her face.

"Apparently his little experiment required the entire package of each our of deli meats -,"

"Units and variables," Gabe interjected. He watched his Uncle Mikey sigh and turned to his parents. "I needed a good number and then the variables were the different types. For comparison." He looked between his parents. "Like you showed me," he added.

Donnie and Sadie exchanged an amused glance that soon had both their shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Even Sam ducked his face from where he stood at the island, making Miwa a cheese but no cooked ham sandwich.

"Between that and Miwa eating every spare piece of food she can get her hands on -,"

"Hey!" Miwa said again, twisting herself around in the couch to glare at Michelangelo. "You only caught me one time."

"Which says a lot, kunoichi," Mikey said, narrowing his eyes at her as a grin spread across his face. He'd been surprised to actually catch her at all.

Miwa turned back around and muttered something in Japanese. Michelangelo was right though, she'd been too consumed by her need to find something to snack on and she hadn't heard him coming that one time he'd found her eating cereal straight out of the box. The other times she'd been in here snacking she'd at least heard him coming and had disappeared before he arrived.

"Your daddy is going to lift you up and you are going to help get the deli meats off the ceiling," Sadie said, doing her best to look strict. "We appreciate your experiment, but it's not okay to waste food."

Gabe nodded back to her as his dad lifted him up on his shoulders so he could begin pulling down the meat slices.

"So, what was the result?" Donnie murmured to him and then laughed as he felt Sadie swat his shell.

"Roast beef sticks best. Ham the worst," Gabe said, excitedly. "I think cause its wetter and more slippery than the others."

Donnie chuckled again and watched as even Mikey had to smile up at Gabe.

"Lets just make a list and Miwa and I will head to the mainland," Sam said.

Mikey began listing off things he wanted but stopped when he noticed Sam wasn't actually making a list. " - aren't you going to write this stuff down?"

"Oh don't worry, Mike. Not only do I have an excellent memory, but I'm married. I'll be reminded of what's on the list."

"Big. Trouble. Chaplin," Miwa said, twisting around again to narrow her eyes at her husband who only grinned back at her as he walked over to where she sat with her sandwich.

Master Splinter, Leo and Akito walked into the room as well and Donnie turned towards them, causing Gabriel to drop some of the lunch meat on his forehead with the sudden movement. He immediately asked where Raphael was.

"He's playing in the ocean with Casey and the girls," Leo said, sitting down on the other side of Miwa. He nodded back to April when she shot him an appreciative look from where she sat reading a book before he leaned over and swiped one of Miwa's chips and even got it successfully into his mouth before Miwa landed a smack on his hand. "Ow," Leo said with a grin.

"He's supposed to be with you," Donnie called over to Leo.

"You should be defending my food for me and your apparently starving infant," Miwa said to Sam around the mouthful of cheese sandwich she was eating.

"No way," Sam said, throwing up his hands, "If you remember, part of my wedding vows included that I would never ever go up against any of your ninja brothers, even if you asked me to."

Miwa swatted at Leo's hand as he went for another chip.

"Seriously, Donnie, I don't need a constant babysitter," Leo called out before he snatched another chip. "Hey, Mikey, are we eating lunch soon? Miwa is not a good sharer."

"Don't get me started on lunch," Mikey muttered as he stared at the sad pile of wasted deli meat in their trash can. He felt a squeeze to his shoulder as Woody handed him a tub of butter from the fridge.

"Grilled cheese and salad," Woody murmured, turning on the stove top.

Mikey immediately perked up and pulled out a knife to begin buttering the bread.

"I love grilled cheese," Miwa said.

"You're eating right now," Leo said.

"Yeah, first lunch," Miwa said. "It'll take them a while to get all those new sandwiches ready to eat."

"He's not _babysitting_ ," Donnie said. "Any doctor would want you under surveillance for a few days after a coma."

"Well, now I'm up here with you so I guess you're my current babysitter," Leo said, rising from the couch to pull down a bag of chips for himself before re-seating himself at the island where he'd be closer to the grilled cheeses as they became available. He made big _I was just in a coma_ eyes at Mikey and was rewarded with the first grilled cheese that was ready. "You're still eating," he said to the glare he could feel Miwa sending his way from behind him. Although, he did send her a smug look when he managed to hoard another ready grilled cheese so that when Raphael appeared a few minutes later there was one immediately ready for him.

"It's good that yer finished with lunch," Raph said to him as he devoured his own sandwich and salad. "Cause its time for yer nap."

"My what?" Leo said.

"Yer nap," Raph said.

"I'm zero tired."

"Dr. Donnie said ya should be restin more and yer still gettin up at the crack of dawn ever day." He sent Leo a pointed look and waited for him to argue with him some more.

"Fine."

"Fine?" Raph asked.

"Yes. Fine. I'll nap. If you come with me and if I get to choose the location."

"Choose the location?" Raph asked.

Leo nodded as he stood. He looked towards Akito and Machi, who thankfully had also managed to get grilled cheeses sent their way from their Uncle Mikey. "Machi you stay with Akito while we're gone," he said and then proceeded to pull Raphael towards the stairs.

Raphael soon realized they were bypassing all the bedrooms and leaving the house. "We nappin in the sand?"

Leo didn't answer him, just tightened his hold on Raph's hand and pulled him around the back of the house and into the woods.

"Did Dr. Donnie say you could go into the woods?" Raph asked, half teasing and fully expecting the glare Leo turned his head enough to send his way.

Other than the glare, Leo still didn't provide an answer for their destination and instead continued to pull Raph into the woods, keeping track of the direction they were headed, as well as how many steps they'd taken.

"Are we sleepin in a tree?" Raph asked, although he was no longer expecting an answer at this point as he allowed Leo to drag him onward.

"Have a surprise for you," Leo finally murmured.

"Surprise?" Raph asked.

Leo looked back and grinned at him as he watched Raph's eyes perk up.

"I had some workers come in a couple weeks ago and build a little ocean-viewing platform. So we'd have a private spot in the woods where we could still see the ocean."

Raph grinned. "Sounds nice, Fearless. I'm assumin there are railings on this platform? Because if you think I'm gonna let you nap fifty feet off the -," he stopped talking when Leo finally stopped walking and pointed a green finger skyward.

"The workers were slightly confused as to why I wanted a platform but no ladder," Leo said with a grin as he let go of Raph's hand and began to scale one of the trees.

Raph looked up and his mouth dropped open at the site of the well-hidden wooden platform, which was flanked and supported by several trees. He grinned as he quickly followed his mate up one of the trees and kept his thoughts about how much Dr. Donnie would not appreciate Leo tree-climbing to himself.

Leo reached the platform easily and climbed over the railing before he looked over the edge at Raphael.

"Are you ready for your birthday present?" he called down before Raph could reach the top.

Raph paused for a moment which got a chuckle out of Leo.

"I don't know how you manage to forget your own birthday, Takara."

Raph grinned up at him again and finished the climb towards the platform. He peered over the ledge, completely unsure of what Leo could have waiting for him and his eyes widened in surprise. He lifted himself over the platform railing as well and lightly ran his hand over the fabric of the hammock Leo had had installed. He turned and found Leo watching him and immediately pulled him in for a kiss.

Leo smiled into the kiss, pleased that Raphael liked the birthday gift. "And there's the water view," he mumbled into Raph's mouth, with a head nod in the direction of the ocean.

"Give me the tour later," Raph mumbled back, pulling Leo's face closer with emerald fingers on the back of Leo's neck so that he couldn't easily speak again. He twisted his tongue around Leo's tongue and reached forward to unhook Leo's katana and slide them off. Leo's elbow pads were pushed off next, right before the belt was removed. He went to remove his own gear and finally noticed that Leo had been doing that job for him as well. Satisfied that they had enough off to rest comfortably, Raph allowed himself to fall backwards onto the hammock, pulling Leo down on top of him.

"Anyone else know about this place?" Raph murmured as his hands traveled down Leo's sides.

"No," Leo said, moving his mouth to Raph's jawline where he began pressing greedy kisses as he tasted the extra salt left behind by the ocean on the emerald skin. "No one else knows. It's just for us. I figured there should be at least one perk for being my caretaker," he teased.

"Oh, there's plenty of perks, Fearless," Raph groaned out under Leo's mouth as his fingers found and began to rub insistently over the cartilage at Leo's slit.

"Is that a perk?" Leo asked with a grin as he dropped down for Raphael.

Raph grinned back at the playful Leonardo and quickly began stroking him within his hand. He watched Leo's eyes slide shut in pleasure from the intimate contact. "A damn big one," he murmured as he began kissing the side of Leo's face.

Leo chuckled before covering Raph's mouth with his own again to twist his tongue back around Raphael's tongue.

The hammock made it difficult to maneuver, something they'd learned long ago in Raph's old room in their sewer lair, and since Raph didn't want Leo working too hard, he shifted them onto their sides and kept one arm wrapped around Leo to assure himself that Leo was not leaving the hammock. Leo, in turn, wrapped his arms tightly around Raph's shoulders and moaned into Raph's mouth when he felt a finger pressing into his entrance. He could barely move his shell with Raphael's arm holding him in place but he still managed to rock his hips forward towards that finger.

Leo's head shot back and he released a loud churr when a second finger joined the first and Raph aimed directly for his sensitive bundle of nerves. Raph had to smile at the sight. He knew Leonardo's body better than he knew his own. He thought about letting go of Leo's shell and taking hold of that beautiful erection currently pressed between them only because he knew that a few flicks of his wrist coupled with a few swipes of his fingers over Leo's inner walls and Leo would be pushed over the edge within moments. He smiled at that thought as well because Leo pushed over the edge was a beautiful sight, made even more amazing by the fact that he was the only one allowed to see it. But he dismissed that initial plan, since Leo would refuse to nap until Raph had been satisfied as well. So instead, he grunted as he dropped down and removed his fingers so that he could shift himself enough to replace them with his own length in a move that would ultimately satisfy them both.

Leo's head tilted forward again as Raphael pushed his way into his body and he captured Raph's mouth for another kiss. His arms tightened possessively around his emerald turtle's shoulders as he heard a churr roll up Raphael's throat. Raph's hand found Leo's waiting length once again and the combination of inner and outer strokes had Leo churring and moaning again. He let himself relax in the swinging hammock as Raphael expertly took care of him.

He opened his eyes and found Raphael's bright green eyes already open and intently watching him with a small smile. The warmth that had been building within him spread quicker at the sight of that handsome face focused on him. He kissed Raph and his lips actually trembled as he pulled away again.

"Love you, Raphie," he managed as he twisted his hips slightly which earned him a sudden curse from his mate.

"I'm not finishin before ya," Raph growled at him. His hand flicked in a teasing retaliation for the hip motion and he watched as Leo's head dipped back again before his entire body tensed and he reached his release. "Yeees," Raph growled as Leo tightened around him and he was squeezed into his own release with a loud shout towards the trees.

Leo hated to admit it, but despite his earlier protests and despite the fact that he'd done very little work since they reached the hammock, he was in fact exhausted. He pressed a few kisses to Raph's face as Raph panted as well, breathed in his favorite scent and felt himself fall into sleep only a few moments later.

Raphael continued to pant as he felt Leo's muscles completely relax against him. He could hear the waves in the distance, the birds in the trees surrounding them, the leaves as the wind blew through them. He refocused and listened to Leo breathing, fought off a shiver as each of Leo's breaths hit his neck, tightened his hold around Leo's shell to assure himself that Leo wasn't going to go anywhere and then finally closed his own eyes for a nap.


	17. Chapter 17

"I don't think you should watch," Machi said. She flipped backwards and raised her arm on her landing to catch the handle of Akito's sword in the prongs of her sais. A quick unexpected twist and his sword flew out of his hand.

Leo's eyes slid to his emerald mate and he watched as Raph's eyes gleamed with pride at their daughter's abilities. They'd returned from their beach house a few days ago and Raphael had been in the dojo with Leo helping to hone Machi's fighting skills for several hours every day since.

"Why not?" Akito asked as he shifted both hands on the one sword he had left.

"Because we don't need you getting all arm flicky if I'm outmatched or get knocked down or something."

Akito scowled at her. "One, there's no way I'm _not_ gonna be there. And two, we're not calling it my _arm flicky_ ability."

Machi grinned at his frustration, faked a slide with one of her legs and then grabbed one of his ankles with her tail and knocked him off balance and down to his belly with a loud "Oomph."

"Are you going easy on me?" Machi asked, leaning over him.

"Sadly no," Akito grumped up at her before twisting himself around so he could grin at her. "Promise me you'll fight like that."

Machi spun her sais on her small palms with a grin and then slid them into her belt. Pride welled up in her at Akito's approval, but she tried not to let it show. Akito wasn't the only one she had to win over today. She bowed to Akito and looked expectantly up to their fathers as they approached. "Okay?" she asked.

Leo looked to Raph and waited. Raph met Leo's blue eyes and sighed. He already knew what Leo thought, but Leo was waiting on his approval as well.

"How many clan members are comin?"

"Everyone but Miwa, Sadie, Gabriel and Shadow. Even Sam is going to come. The more humans we have, the more we'll stand out," Leo said.

"What was plan B?" Raph asked, watching his little daughter sigh at him.

"Dressing Mikey up like a fox and sending him in," Leo said, dryly as he bent to offer Akito a hand to pull him up from the dojo floor.

"Mike would be up for that," Raph said. He'd already secretly agreed with plan A but was enjoying teasing them. Unfortunately for him, it didn't last long because Leo recognized the tease in his voice and when Machi caught Leo's grin, she lunged herself towards Raphael and hugged him around his middle.

"This is going to be so much fun!" she said with a big smile.

* * *

She entered her apartment and locked the door behind her despite the fact that her hands were full of groceries. She was halfway through the main room, heading towards the kitchen when she realized that one of her windows was open and a dark figure stood just inside it, leaning against the wall.

She gasped and dropped the groceries. There was an attempt at a quick sprint back towards the exit but the figure was right behind her and she soon found herself pressed into the back of her apartment door by one strong hand on her back.

"You can take whatever you want, just let go of me!" she said. She struggled to put some distance between herself and the wooden door and was unsuccessful.

There was a dark chuckle behind her and then a harsh whisper near her ear. "Are you sure you want me to let you go? From what I hear, you're into some pretty kinky stuff, Mona."

She froze at the sound of her own name. "Who are you?"

"Someone you tried to steal from," the figure said in another harsh whisper.

Mona struggled to turn around or to even turn her head to try to see who was behind her in the dark apartment, but the hand on her back was too strong and she could hear whoever this was huff out only an amused breath as they watched her struggle. But suddenly she was spun around and trapped between two strong arms planted on either side of her head.

She gasped as her gaze was met by a pair of fierce blue eyes.

"Leo," she squeaked. She'd only met him once, but there was no mistaking the angry blue-clad turtle in front of her.

"You have been very disrespectful to me and my mate, wouldn't you agree, Mona?"

She nodded quickly and shivered under the icy blue-eyed gaze.

"And you would like to apologize to me, and to Raphael, and make it up to us, correct?"

Another quick nod.

"Great," Leo said, straightening with a bright smile that didn't do anything to calm Mona's nerves. "Pack a bag and head to our building. Call Casey when you arrive and he'll bring you upstairs. Be there in an hour." He headed towards the window and paused before exiting to smile at her again. "Don't be late."

The window slid shut behind him and a chill ran through her as she felt adrenaline released into her arms and legs, making her wobbly. She quickly sat in the closest chair and swore.

She glared at the traitorous window that had allowed him entry and thought about calling Casey. But her cousin had warned her against hitting on Raphael and he'd likely have no sympathy for her.

Another chill ran through her as his cold blue eyes appeared in her mind again.

* * *

Raphael was packing when he heard Leo enter their apartment. He let out the breath he'd been holding since Leo had left earlier and did his best to school his face to look relaxed before Leo entered their bedroom. He'd been glued to Leo's side for the past three weeks as Leo had followed all of Donnie's doctor orders. So, as a small reward for Leo's good behavior, he'd barely argued with him earlier when Leo said he needed to go for a run before their inter-dimensional trip.

"Mikey is packing the smoke bombs," Raph said, glancing up as Leo entered the room. "How many sets of throwing stars should I bring?"

"I'm hoping we don't need any of that," Leo said as he began to push off his gear. He watched as Raph's eyes moved over him, checking him for injury or signs of distress and smiled to himself as he thought about how much he loved Raphael. _His Raphael_. He pushed away thoughts of Mona and her smug face, especially now that he had managed to have a private discussion with her about her inappropriate and unwelcome behavior.

Plus, she certainly hadn't looked smug when he'd spoken to her.

"Yeah, well, that's because yer an optimist about this plan of yers," Raph said, grinning at him as he held up two boxes of throwing stars, one in each hand. He lifted each one alternatively until Leo finally nodded towards the larger one. "That's what I thought," Raph said and he chuckled as he threw it into his bag. "Kids are packed, too."

"Great, I'm going to shower," Leo said, slipping into their bathroom.

He was already scrubbing beneath the warm water when Raphael finally followed him. He pulled Raphael into the shower and pressed the emerald turtle's shell against the wall before kissing him.

"I was - ," Raph allowed Leo's tongue to push its way into his mouth for the kiss before pulling away to speak again, "was just comin to get our toothbrushes," Raph said.

Leo's eyes traveled down Raph's body and he finally noticed the now soaking wet elbow pads, knee pads and belt. He lifted his face back to Raphael and grinned. "Well, now you're already in here." One hand lifted to Raph's head and soon the red mask was gone, pushed off his head to land on the shower floor.

Raphael grinned back. But he couldn't help teasing. "Everyone will be in the dojo to leave soon. _Yer_ orders."

Leo pressed against him anyway, his fingers pressing into Raphael's biceps as he reveled in the way his body slid against Raphael under the water. Raphael, realizing Leo wasn't even going to respond to the reminder of their limited time, wrapped an arm around Leo's lower shell and pulled his mate hard against him. He was rewarded with a grunt from Leo as Leo dropped down even quicker than Raph had been expecting.

"Didja miss me while you were out?" he murmured as Leo began to insistently rub against him.

"Yes," Leo gasped as he felt Raph's fingers close around him.

Raphael didn't begin stroking him, however, merely tightened his grip as his eyes sought out Leo's eyes.

"Enough that you'll promise to stay right with me on this trip? No solo runs?"

Leo was panting as he tried to move his hips to create some sort of friction within Raph's fingers, but Raph's strong grip was unwavering and Leo had no choice but to agree with him. "No solo runs."

Raph nodded, satisfied, and leaned forward to kiss Leonardo again before he released Leo completely in order to twist himself around and jut out his hips in invitation. He felt Leo's fingers slide over his rear end and twitched slightly in anticipation. He let himself drop down finally with his own grunt and looked over his shoulder at Leo.

He didn't want to bring up their soon-to-be-waiting family again in the middle of _this_ , so instead he released a loud churr and said, "Need ya now, Fearless."

Leo snapped out of his thoughts regarding Raphael's perfect ass and stepped forward. He reached around and let his hand slide over Raphael a few times before pulling Raph's hips back even further and pushing his way into that emerald body. His eyes slid shut as he groaned

Raphael rested his upper body on his forearms against the tiled wall and he was bent far enough forward to have the perfect view of Leo's hand moving steadily over him. He was feeling a bit mesmerized by the sight when one of Leo's thrusts hit his prostate dead-on.

"Fuck, Leo, yes, there. Right there. Fuck. Yes."

Leo nodded and increased his speed. He listened as more curses and nonsense words spilled out of Raph's mouth as Raph's inner walls seemed to pull him in deeper. His one hand flew over Raphael's hard length while the other gripped Raph's hip tightly, holding him steady.

Leo could feel Raph's body tremble as heat came off of him, rolling over Leo in waves. Raph couldn't hold out any longer and seconds later he ducked his head forward towards the tiled wall and it didn't matter how many times he'd seen it before, Leo was upset to have missed the look on Raph's face when he finished. He couldn't focus on that for long though because now the heat produced by Raphael reached furnace-like temperatures as his muscles squeezed around Leo tight enough to cause Leo to jerk himself forward and bite into Raph's shoulder to keep from shouting with his own release.

Raph supported the both of them when he felt Leo's body collapse against his shell. Leo nuzzled his face against Raph's shoulder and when he finally released Raphael, he watched as Raph reached up with shaky hands to finally push off his soggy elbow pads. Raph turned off the shower and pulled a still dazed-appearing Leonardo into his plastron.

Leo went willingly and did his best to wrap his arms back around Raphael. "You're so warm, Raphie. Always so warm."

"Universe knew I was gonna have a mate who was always cold," he murmured and listened to Leo chuckle at the phrase he'd first said so many years ago. He lifted Leo's chin and kissed him hard. "You and me," he murmured.

Leo nodded through another kiss. Being tucked into Raph's arm made him wish they could stay here, despite the trouble they'd gone through to prepare for the upcoming trip. He reminded himself that the trip was to benefit their kids and pushed away enough to be able to meet Raph's eyes.

"You should stop distracting me," Leo teased. "We have a schedule we have to keep to tonight."

Raph scoffed at him. "Yer a real jerk."

"You love me," Leo said, pressing quick kisses to Raph's nose.

"I do," Raph agreed.

Leo stopped pressing kisses to the emerald face so he could smile at him. "I love you, too."

* * *

"What's the plan tonight, Leo?" Donnie asked.

"We check into our rooms as soon as we get there," Leo said. "Tomorrow we get started. You have the equipment we'll need?"

"Got it," Donnie said, patting the bag he had over his shoulder before he turned back to Sadie and Gabe to say his goodbyes.

The volume in the dojo was loud as everyone prepared to leave and Casey was helping April remind Shadow to behave herself while she stayed behind with her Aunt Sadie when he got a phone call from Mona. Leo watched Casey subtly disappear and then reappear a few minutes later with Mona in tow.

"Leo?" Casey asked, a strange look on his face as he approached the clan leader.

Raph frowned when he saw Mona and watched Leo innocently crease his forehead in Casey's direction.

"Mona said you told her to pack a bag and come over?"

Leo's eyes flickered over to Mona and he watched as she quickly ducked her eyes away from him and towards the floor.

The interaction didn't escape Raphael's attention and he watched as Leo continued to look falsely innocent as he faced Casey.

"Yes," Leo said, calmly. "Mona and I had a little discussion earlier and she volunteered to come help us. I thought it was a good idea since more humans in our group can only give us a greater advantage."

Mona's eyes widened as she listened to Leo nonchalantly talk about needing humans and Casey had a pretty damn good feeling his cousin had no idea what she had gotten herself tangled into.

"I need to talk to you," Miwa said, pulling on Leo's arm and pulling him away from his current group.

Raphael stayed where he was and listened to Miwa request in her special Miwa way that Leo bring Sam home safely _or else_ while Casey had turned back to Mona and frowned at her.

"I told you Leo can be scary," Casey murmured. "You better behave yerself, Mona, or else Leo may not bring you back home from this trip."


	18. Chapter 18

Leo woke in the middle of the night and his thoughts immediately began considering their upcoming days. The rooms they had been assigned by the competition leaders was in a building attached to the main stadium, which alleviated his stress about getting their large group back and forth since they could easily walk.

He did his best not to shift in his and Raph's temporary bed even though his limbs were full of nervous energy and anxious to move. Instead, he pressed his face further into Raph's neck and inhaled Raph's comforting scent. The first step of his plan had been to get Machi enrolled in the ninja competition on very short notice and with the additional complication that this was a local competition and he did not have a dojo in this dimension. He knew Usagi had some sort of high rank in this world and the last thing he wanted to do was name drop, especially since he didn't consider the samurai a current friend. And thankfully he hadn't needed to. The competition leaders were already well aware of who he was and were more than willing to let Machi enter the competition. They even began spreading the word that they were going to have a special guest from another dimension competing.

Personally, he would've hated the special treatment under normal circumstances, but in this case, it would only help them. They weren't going to be able to find someone in hiding by being in hiding themselves. If they wanted to find Suzu, they were going to have to stand out. It had been at least ten years since Suzu had last seen her niece and nephew and Leo was counting on family bonds to draw her out of hiding.

He shifted on the mattress as he thought about how excited Machi was to compete. He and his brothers had never had an opportunity like this to test their skills against others. And he could only hope that he'd done his job as her sensei to help prepare her. He was thankful that the majority of their clan had agreed to come and not only keep their eyes open for fox spectators, but also support Machi through her events. Leo also hoped that Machi was going to be able to enjoy herself. So far, her only disappointment seemed to be that Shadow hadn't been allowed to come watch as well. But, Leo thought, if this went well, maybe they could come back another time when they didn't have another agenda to just let Machi compete and let the whole family focus on her and her alone.

His eyes traveled over Raph's jawline and he seriously hoped they weren't wasting everyone's time. After all, they'd just had their spring break at the beach house and now he'd pulled practically every family member away from their jobs. He was relying on the fact that Suzu would not only hear about the competition, which was thankfully widely advertised here, but that she would actually show up.

"That's enough," Raph said suddenly, his voice thick with sleep as he pushed Leo onto his shell and rolled himself up onto an elbow so he could look down at him. "What do I have to do to get ya to go back to sleep?"

"What if we dragged everyone here and she doesn't show up?"

"You mean you don't have a plan for that?" Raph asked, grinning down at Leonardo despite how tired he was. He certainly had his own plan B for tiring Leo out if talking didn't end up working.

Raph watched Leo's eyes dart to the side of their temporary bedroom and swore internally when he realized he'd only managed to shift Leo's thoughts to a completely separate worry.

"Ya stopped by Mona's place on your run earlier, huh?" Raph said, narrowing his eyes down at Leo. That got Leo's attention back to him instead of wherever else his brain had wandered.

"I may have stopped by to invite her on our trip," Leo said slowly as he looked back up at Raph's glowing green eyes.

Raph's fingers trailed down Leo's plastron and he heard Leo hum in response. "Didja _invite_ her with weapons or just those fierce eyes of yers?"

"No weapons."

"No weapons," Raph repeated, shaking his head. He dipped his head and let his tongue slide up Leo's neck and earned himself a small moan from his mate. "Ya know I've glared at her plenty and it didn't make a damn bit of difference." Leo only offered a half shrug in response. Raph paused and let his eyes roam over Leo's face. Leo looked tired and his eyes were soft and sleepy, but Raph could picture the fierce blue gaze that Leo typically saved for their enemies. "What exactly did you two talk about?"

Leo paused as if he had to think about it and Raph shook his head at that falsely innocent face. He lowered his face as if to kiss Leo, but pulled his mouth at the last moment and let his tongue trace over Leo's jawline instead. He smiled at the small churr that rolled up Leo's throat in response.

"She, uh, she agreed that she was very sorry for her behavior," Leo said. He let his eyes close as he focused on Raphael's tongue. "And she wished to make it up to us."

"She said all that, huh?" Raph's husky voice near Leo's ear asked and Leo automatically arched his hips towards Raphael.

"Maybe not in so many words. Actually, she didn't say much while I was there."

"We didn't have enough goin on already?" Raph asked as he swiped his tongue teasingly over Leo's lips before pulling away again. "Ya felt like ya needed to teach another lesson in the middle of all this?"

Leo opened his eyes again and murmured, "No one messes with you and gets away with it." He ran a hand gently down the side of Raph's handsome face before his fingers pulled possessively on the back of Raph's neck, allowing him to finally capture Raph's mouth over his own.

Raph shifted as Leo's fingers pulled him closer until Leo was truly underneath him as he greedily twisted his tongue with Leo's tongue. Raph would admit, on some days at least, that Leo was slightly taller than he was. But he was bulkier than Leo. And while he worried that he would crush Leo's smaller frame, he knew that Leo liked the feeling of his full weight on top of him, pushing Leo down into the bed, the dirt, the sand, the hammock. Raph understood that it made Leo feel safe. He was also stronger than Leo. He had the power and strength to hold Leo in place or bend him how he liked. Leo knew it too, but Leo trusted Raphael to take care of him. To always take care of him. And that was a gift to Raphael. He didn't know if Leo knew that or not. Leo, who was covered in muscle himself. The clan leader. The deadly, graceful fighter. The turtle with a plan, even when it came to a tiny female human who thought she had both a figurative and a literal shot at getting in between them.

He opened his eyes to look at the turtle beneath him. He was bigger and stronger than Leo, yet Leo still laid full claim on him. And he loved that. He loved that Leo had gone after Mona. That Leo was as protective and possessive of him as he would always be of Leo. _His Leo_.

Leonardo had moaned when he felt Raph's weight shift onto him and could only moan again when Raphael's fingers began to explore around his tail. He was already ten thousand times warmer than he'd been just a moment ago and his toes curled from just their kiss alone. He knew why Raph was always so warm. There was a fire within his favorite turtle. It fueled Raph's strength, was the energy behind Raph's protective nature and lit the passion that Raphael saved for him. His hands tightened on those strong arms, a silent plea for Raph to stay right where he was. He meditated and ran through kata after kata in training just trying to erase his constant worry and stress. But none of that compared to Raphael's ability to clear his head with only a few touches and a glimpse of that fire in those gorgeous green eyes.

He wasn't sure when either of them had dropped down, but Raph leaned down to kiss him again and Leo arched into him as he felt Raphael's hard length press into his body.

"Never get – enough of you," Raph said, panting in his effort not to move too fast. He watched Leo's pupils grow fat as the pinned turtle did his best to moan quietly as he tried to push his hips up against the hard emerald body above him. Raph ducked his face so that he could kiss and lick his way across Leo's neck, inhaling Leo's scent, the same scent that had drawn him back to Leo all those years ago.

Leo couldn't move much with Raph's full weight on him, but he was fine with that. He was content enough just to have Raphael fill him up completely. Raph's hands pushed at Leo's arms until they were above his head on the pillow and he shifted so that he could pin both of Leo's hands in one of his own. He pushed himself up slightly on his free arm's elbow, giving himself enough leverage to begin thrusting his hips forward. He rocked into Leo, keeping his plastron low so that Leo's own length could get the friction he so desperately wanted. He covered Leo's mouth again and managed to mute out some of their churrs and moans.

Leo managed to get his mouth free and Raph soon heard his name being repeated in breathy moans as Leo's hands tensed beneath his palm and then tightened unbelievably into his fingers as Leo spasmed beneath him and fell over the edge. Raphael kissed him again and thrust a few more times in that tightened tunnel before he reached his own release with a growling groan.

He let his tongue slide over Leo's neck once again and smiled at the aftershock it produced before he rolled to his side, moving most of his weight off Leonardo.

"Ya know," he said after a few moments of panting to catch his breath, "I'm not sure Casey is gonna let ya leave his cousin here."

"I didn't say anything about leaving her here," Leo said as he rolled to his side so he could press himself back against Raphael's warm body.

Raphael rolled to his shell in turn as he welcomed Leo back into side. He felt Leo's face nuzzle into his neck and settle there. Right where he belonged.

"Although, I am pretty sure she's going to love it here," Leo murmured into Raph's neck, his breath tickling Raph's skin as he spoke. He let himself sink into Raphael and closed his eyes again.

Raph shook his head and huffed out a breath. "Aishiteru, ya dork."

"Your dork."

Raph blew air out of his nose in a silent laugh. "Yes. _My_ dork." He felt Leo's smile against the skin of his neck and grinned as well.

"Love you, Raphie."

* * *

Machi's eyes widened a little bit as they walked into the stadium for the first time. She'd pictured a place with mats in the center and seats for spectators, but this place was enormous. There were multiple matted areas around the large room, enough for multiple spars and presentations to occur all at once. And there weren't just chairs set around the mats, but tall bleachers which were already filling with spectators.

Leo scanned the arena before turning to their group to hand out post assignments.

Mona's eyes were just as wide as Machi's, although for an entirely different reason.

"So there's _no_ humans here?" she murmured over to Casey. She'd been sticking to his side, much to April's annoyance, since they'd arrived the night before. "Just talking animals?"

"Right," Casey said. "Although I'm pretty sure you shouldn't refer to them as talkin animals."

"Leo is sneakier than I thought," Mona murmured. "I finally see why he brought me."

"He _brought_ ya cause we obviously stand out as humans, which is the point here," Casey said. He frowned down at Mona as she hungrily looked around the arena. It was bad enough that he and April had to share their room with her last night, especially when they were kid-free on this trip, but he really didn't feel like babysitting her. "What?" he finally asked.

"He wants my eyes off Raphael so he's giving me plenty of other things to look at."

"Ya should be keepin yer eyes off Raph anyway," Casey said, nearly growling at her.

She waved a hand in his direction as she continued to eye her new surroundings.

"Charlie. Echo. Froxtrot. Over." Mikey's voice rang out in all of their ears as he pressed on the watch on his wrist to activate the new hidden communicators Donnie had made for them.

"We're still standing right here, Mike," Raph gruffed at him as he rubbed over his ear slit and examined the wrist piece to see how to turn the damn thing down.

"I didn't even get one of those communicators," Mona said to Casey.

"Ya weren't supposed to be here," Casey grumbled back at her as he watched April head off with Master Splinter to their assigned area.

Mona had been directing all of her comments solely towards Casey since they arrived, but Leo turned to her now and tipped his head.

"Your cell phone will not work in this dimension, Mona," he said. "And, since you do not have a communicator, I suggest you stay close to Casey. We wouldn't want you to get lost."

Mona dared a glance up to Leo's face and immediately regretted it when she saw the fierce look in those blue eyes that said he wouldn't mind at all if she got lost. She glanced over to Raphael and found that he wasn't paying attention at all as he stood talking to the tall, purple-clad turtle brother. That single glance earned her a small growl from Leo and she quickly whipped her eyes back down towards the ground.

The growl got Raph's attention and he turned towards the small group. Mona was examining the ground and Case gave him a quick eye roll that Casey hoped Leo didn't notice. Raph rested his free hand on Leo's shoulder and turned back to Donnie.

"Casey, you and Mona go find seats in that section over there. Be friendly with the locals," Leo said, shooting Mona a look she could see out of her peripheral vision. "You can manage that, right?"

Casey watched Mona smile despite herself and he pulled on her arm to get her moving.

Akito listened in as his Uncle Donnie helped his pops turn down the volume on his ear piece before he turned to Machi and took in her wide-eyed expression.

"I'm sorry I can't be the one doing this, Machi," he said to her in a low voice. Being in the actual arena made him wish, even more than before, that he could compete as well. But he knew it wasn't a safe idea right now, which was also why their dad had turned to Machi and asked her how she felt about being used as bait.

"Don't be," Machi said as her shock at the size of the place turned back into excitement. "I actually get to help for once." She turned to grin at Akito and considered his face. "I know you wish you were the one doing this, but you have a job to do here too."

Akito straightened and nodded back to her. He wasn't going to be out on the mats performing but he was still expected to remain visible next to one of one of their fathers at all times.

"And where's my post, Fearless?" Raph asked as he watched Leo send off their family members to positions around the stadium.

"Proud fathers get to stand over here," Leo said, giving him a grin as he led Raphael, Akito and Machi to stand in a position that had been designated for them during the tournament. "You're in this first round, Machi," Leo said.

"A spar?" she asked excitedly.

"No," Leo said, grinning down at her. "First up are kata demonstrations." They'd been over the schedule and she knew spars came later, but he could tell by her gleaming eyes that she was too busy being excited to remember much else. He leaned down so she'd focus on him and when he was sure he had her attention, he began going over a few important details, such as where to go and where the judges would be sitting.

There was an announcement over a speaker system, welcoming the young competitors, their senseis and their families. Leo only half-listened as he did a quick scan of the large audience. He caught glimpses of their family members moving throughout the room but no foxes. Honestly, he didn't have high hopes that Suzu would be spotted today. The main point of today was to spread out and be seen by as many spectators as possible.

There were a few events going on across the mats at once and Leo turned his attention back to the center of the room as Hamato Machi was introduced for her first event.

Machi looked nervous for a split second before she gave her brother and fathers a quick smile, steeled her face and headed out onto the mats. She bowed towards the judges, pulled her sais from her belt and slid her feet into the first pose.

Leo held his breath as he waited to see if she was going to perform the kata they'd practiced over and over the past few days or just go rogue and pick a different routine on the spot.

Her feet slid forward and her sais slid smoothly from one hand to two. Her arms lifted. She went onto her toes. Moved forward. Back down to her heels. The sais moved and twirled through her fingers with ease. She went easily back and forth between the sais lining up with her forearm to having the prongs pointed out at an imaginary opponent. One foot lifted and held as she shifted sideways and raised both sais out to her sides. Leo watched as Machi's face was not the excited child he'd seen a few minutes before, but one of concentration and focus. Peace and calm. Pride welled in his chest watching her.

Next to him, Raphael filled with pride as well as he watched his daughter handle the weapons that he himself had mastered. She was graceful and suddenly looked a little too grown up. Their little lady of the house.

She ended with a flourish, smoothly transitioned the sais back to one hand and bowing towards the group of judges before she contained herself enough to walk and not spring back to her family on the sidelines.

"What's the view on huggin the warriors here?" Raph murmured to Leo as Machi approached.

"Go for it," Leo said back to him, unable to keep the grin off his face.

Raph lifted her up when she finally reached them and she smiled and soaked in the cheers from her fathers and big brother. They were still huddled around her with happy praises when Leo felt a small tap on his shoulder.

"Master Leonardo, may I speak with you please?"

Leo turned and found Emi, the mother of his former bunny students, standing behind him.

Raphael watched Leo turn towards him and he gave him a quick nod. "I'll stay with the kids," he said. Machi didn't have another event right away and now it was their turn to sit and watch while hoping to be seen.

Leo nodded back to him and led Emi out of the loud arena and into one of the quieter side hallways.

"It's good to see you in person," Leo said. "Are your children here?"

"Not yet. They've been instructed to remain at home until I could talk to you."

Leo studied her. He didn't know her well enough to recognize what she was thinking but she definitely looked troubled. He waited while she fidgeted with her hands for a moment before she met his eyes again.

"I'm very worried about them. You know how they are," she said with a smile and Leo's mind immediately brought up a memory of the group of them playing domino bunnies the first time he'd tried to get them to meditate. "But ever since they returned from that trip with my brother," she paused for a moment before continuing, "they've been quiet. Sullen. Troubled. Usagi will not be pleased to hear it, but I will not allow them to go on another trip with him. And I have come to ask you for a favor. You've taken such great care of them for so many years. You and your family treat them like family and they love and respect you." She paused to make eye contact with him. "I would like it if they could return to their training with you. If you would allow it, that is. I know they disappeared on you before but I know how much it would mean to them, and to me, if you would take them back. Perhaps you can heal their spirits."

Leo didn't react right away. He flashed back to his last discussion with Usagi, and Usagi's criticism of his teaching abilities. Emi was right, Usagi would not be happy if she were to take away his family right to lead the bunnies on missions as he pleased and instead return them to Leo's dojo.

"I have missed them," Leo said to Emi. "Our entire family has. I am sorry to hear that they are hurting. I'd like to help."

She looked immediately relieved. "Thank you. I just know you'll be able to get through to them. I'll be sure to send them over to help cheer for your Machi and perhaps we can set up a normal schedule again once you've all returned home?"

Leo nodded and watched her turn and head down the hallway towards an exit. Knowing that the bunnies were essentially being returned to him suddenly felt like a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He grinned to himself as he turned to head back to the arena but stopped abruptly when another rabbit stepped out of the shadows and into his path.

* * *

 **A/N** : Happy New Year, everyone! I recently celebrated my 6 month "writing anniversary" here with this series and wanted to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have read the stories, left amazing (and often times funny) comments, shared private messages and gifted these stories with amazing artwork. It wouldn't be the same without each of you.

I know this story is moving a little slower than some of the others, I can feel it too (although I hope you're enjoying it anyway). I'm pretty sure I'm dragging my feet because this may be the final large story to this series. I hate to say that and sound kind of dramatic and then boom - new story after this one - but just sharing my thoughts for now.

Be safe tonight!


	19. Chapter 19

Mona moved away from Casey and beelined for Raphael as soon as she saw Leo walk away with a rabbit.

"So, Leo is a bit possessive, huh?" she asked as she slipped in next to him. The fox children were nearby so she did her best to keep her voice low.

Raph's eyes shot down to Mona and he scowled at her. "Where's Case? Leo warned you about gettin lost here."

"Well I'd say I'm safe right now considering I'm here with you," Mona said, grinning up at him. "Unless you think Leo might rip my throat out when he comes back, which, I have to say was my first thought when I finally got to see who was in my dark apartment last night."

"I guess yer lucky he's not a rip yer throat out kind of guy."

"I meant what I said, though," Mona said. "He is pretty possessive. I don't know how you stand it."

"Stand it?" Raph asked with a chuckle. "I fuckin love it. And I'm just as possessive of him, so ya can drop the act of bein a concerned friend."

Mona couldn't hide the shock on her face and stood silent for a few minutes before she glanced around the arena again.

"Well, I guess I thought I should check in with you one last time before I make any new friends here."

"You don't need my permission to make any friends here," Raph said, glaring at her for making it seem like they'd had some sort of previous understanding or relationship.

"Okay then," Mona said, shooting him one last smile before she turned and sauntered away from him.

* * *

"This place is awesome," Mikey said. "I know Leo was joking about putting me in dressed as a fox if Machi didn't want to compete, but I totally would've done it." He leaned over the railing of the upper level where they stood and watched the events down below. "I'd still go now as myself if this wasn't a junior league. Can you believe I'm actually too old to do something?"

Mikey grinned over at Woody and found his blonde human's eyes roaming around the arena.

"What are you thinkin?" Mikey asked. He had noticed Woody getting a lot of strange looks from the natural residents of this world, which he was pretty sure was due to his husband's cool curly blonde hair. This wasn't Woody's first experience with this dimension, though, and so he hoped the looks weren't making Woody uncomfortable.

"I'm just glad to be out on a mission with you," Woody said. He'd been happy that no one had thought to question whether or not he should go on this trip. He certainly didn't want anyone hurt, but he was secretly grateful that Leo's recent head injuries and comatose status had taken everyone's attention away from his recent brain surgery and how he was or was not handling the recovery.

Mikey grinned back. "Well, nurse Mikey is keeping a very close eye on you."

"Testing, testing. Over," Donnie voice came through their ear pieces.

"Oh, so it's okay when you do it, D?" Mikey answered back immediately.

Donnie exchanged a grin with Sam who sat next to him across the stadium from where Mikey and Woody were posted.

"When I do it, it's to actually test the equipment. Over."

"No way you brought this stuff without testing it a million times in the lab, amiright, Dr. Sam?" Mikey responded.

Sam laughed and shook his head, a move he was pretty certain Michelangelo could in fact see from across the large room. "I am not taking sides between brothers."

"Good call, Sam," Donnie said, into the communicator even though Sam was inches away. "Although, if you were going to take sides, I'd suggest you side with your boss."

"Don't let him pull that crap, Sam," Mikey said. "Besides, if you wanna quit working for Dr. Blackmail, you can always come work in the food truck."

Sam turned his back to Donatello as if he wanted to privately respond to the new job offer and Donnie could only laugh when he began speaking into their shared communicators again. "That's a very generous offer, Michelangelo," Sam replied.

Raph rolled his eyes at the conversation between his brothers as he turned and looked towards the door where Leo had exited the stadium. He was disappointed again not to see his blue-eyed turtle.

"Hey, D, these ear pieces need a cool name," Mike said.

"They're a wireless group communication system that contains the speaker and the microphone within the ear piece and the activation in the wristband," Donnie said, trying to keep his grin from spreading since he knew Mikey didn't agree that detailed descriptions of an invention qualified as an actual name.

"These watches look kind of like fitbits," April chimed in from where she sat with Master Splinter. "We should call it the spy bits system."

Mikey made a garbled sound through the equipment before saying "You should know better than to try to outname me, April."

"They do actually also function like fitbits," Donnie replied, ignoring Mikey. "That was Sadie's idea."

"Turtle bits!" Mikey suddenly exclaimed. "No, wait, that might not go over well when we tell other people what they're called."

"I'm not calling them that," Raph added.

Mikey laughed outright and turned back to Woody. Woody wasn't jumping into the conversation like he normally might and Mikey realized he'd been abnormally quiet all morning. He took his hand off the wrist band so the others could no longer hear him.

"You feelin okay?"

Woody tore his eyes away from the groups surrounding them and smiled as he placed a hand on Mikey's upper arm. "Yeah, Mike." He looked around before he began speaking again. "You really would've loved this kind of thing when you were a kid, right?"

"Oh yeah, especially if my bros and I could compete," Mikey said.

"And you being you, Mike, you would've been surrounded by friends."

"I wouldn't choose this though," Mike said, jumping in. He knew Woody well enough to know he was going somewhere with this. "If I had to choose between growing up here or growing up in sewer. I'd pick sewer."

"Even if you had the same family in a world like this? Still had Master Splinter and your brothers?"

"Even then," Mikey said.

"Why?"

"Because if we grew up here, I don't think my brothers and I would've been close. I'd be off with all my friends," he said, making a funny face at Woody, "and my bros would be who knows where and we'd probably never hang out. We might not even be speaking to each other by now as adults. Maybe we'd never see each other. Sounds sad."

Woody tapped his fingers on the railing they were leaning on. "So you think everything worked out for the best? Or worked out the way it was supposed to?"

"Yeah," Mikey said. He studied Woody's face. "What are you really thinkin?"

"I guess I'm ready to try to find the bright side to Franklin," Woody said. "I mean, I'm here and healthy so why am I moping? Right? And if you can explain to me why it was better for you to have grown up hiding in the sewers, which I knew you'd be able to," he said with a grin, "then I better be able to see the bright side to brain surgery."

"Like how much better you feel now compared to before?" Mikey said.

"Or how I have a really cute husband helping me recover."

"You know flattery will get you everywhere with me," Mikey said with a bright smile as he leaned over to plant a quick kiss on Woody's mouth. "But I do like this idea of yours."

"Good, because I'm relying on your help, Mr. Can-see-the-bright-side-to-anything."

"You'll always have it, Woods."

"I love you, Michelangelo. Thanks for putting up with me."

"Love you too, Woods. And hey, another bright side to how I grew up, how else would I have met you, dude?"

"You wouldn't have," Woody said with a smile. "I wouldn't have made it near you with your hoards of friends."

"I bet I would've singled you out. Eventually," Mike said with a grin.

"Really?" Woody said doubtfully as he narrowed his eyes at his freckled turtle. He started laughing suddenly and then said, "Cause I always smelled like pizza when we first met?"

Mikey chuckled too and pulled Woody closer to him to kiss him. "We were always meant to be, Woods."

"You think it's okay if we just stand here and kiss for a while?"

"What better way to draw attention to ourselves?" Mikey asked with another laugh as he pulled Woody all the way into his side.

* * *

"Eavesdropping on your own sister?" Leo asked as Usagi stepped out of the shadow. He hit a button to mute his ear piece as Donnie and Mikey's voices began ringing in his ears.

Usagi let his eyes trail up and down Leonardo. The last time he'd seen the turtle, they'd all been knocked unconscious and Usagi thought it was strange that he didn't know the details of Leonardo's recovery. It felt like information he should be privy to.

"Just goes to show you can't always rely on your own family," Usagi said with half a shrug as he stepped closer to the Hamato clan leader. His nieces and nephews had been moping since they'd returned from their failed mission and he wasn't surprised that his sister was going behind his back to Leonardo. "I believe that's something I've been trying to point out to you for years. Sometimes it's better to look outside the family for allies." Another step closer and he watched as Leonardo shifted but refused to back away from him as those sapphire blue eyes narrowed. "Or companionship."

Leo did his best to keep a neutral expression as Usagi closed in on him while simultaneously blocking the hallway Leo needed to get back into the arena. He hadn't felt uncomfortable the last time he'd seen Usagi and he suspected it was because Usagi had been so distracted by his own anger. But now, faced with Usagi's strange calmness, which was highlighting the leering, he began to feel a familiar discomfort creep up his shell.

"You're drawing a lot of attention to yourself," Usagi said as he inhaled sandalwood, leather, tea and a scent that was uniquely Leonardo. Lenape might look very similar to Leonardo, but he sure as hell didn't smell like him. His nose twitched when an unfortunate smell hit him. Unfortunately, _Raphael's_ scent was also lingering on Leonardo's skin. "What is your clan doing here?"

Leo fought the urge to shudder as he watched Usagi's nose twitch repeatedly in his direction. He ignored Usagi's question and instead asked one of his own, "What are you doing here, Usagi?"

"I live here."

"In this stadium?" Leo asked dryly.

Usagi's lip quirked up despite himself and he crossed his arms. With another shrug he said, "I came to see you." He paused for a moment and watched Leonardo's face for a reaction and was disappointed when the leader turtle's expression didn't change. When it was also clear that Leonardo wasn't going to ask any further questions, he continued. "I came to warn you that this world is not a safe place for you to be."

"Why not?"

"Perhaps you have forgotten, but that wolf pack that just came after you and your fox children went through a lot of trouble to illegally jump from here into your dimension. How smart do you think it is to just walk right into ours?"

"Those wolves are in custody, are they not?"

"They were only a small number compared to the larger group in the resistance. There are plenty of others roaming around here who undoubtedly know you and the foxes are here."

"Are you saying you still don't have control over this resistance?" Leo asked.

He was hoping the rude remark would force Usagi to back away from him. Instead, Leo watched as a strange emotion he couldn't place crossed Usagi's face before his eyes roamed hungrily over Leonardo again.

Usagi did finally turn and take a step away from Leo before stopping to say, "Consider yourself warned, Leonardo. I'd hate to see something happen to you."

Leo felt his chest loosen as he watched Usagi take a few steps away from him.

"If you choose to stay, which I have a feeling will be the case," Usagi said over his shoulder, "I'm sure I'll be running into you again."

Leo took a breath and watched Usagi's back until he was out of sight. He took off down the hallway, but when he re-entered the arena, he immediately ran into a hard shell.

"I'm sorry," he automatically said to the turtle, although his mouth dropped open when the turtle turned around and he saw that it was Lenape. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Lenape frowned at Leo as he turned around to face him. "Usagi brought me," he said. "He picked me up after he saw you a few weeks ago. You two finished?"

Leo nodded. He glanced over to make sure Raphael and their kids were still safe before turning back to the turtle who looked so much like himself. "Why are you with him? I mean, you let him call you by _my_ name. And - ,"

"I'm not stupid," Lenape said quickly. "I know he'd prefer you. And you might think I'm letting him use me," Lenape shrugged. "But do you see me still stuck in a world that hasn't discovered indoor plumbing yet? Don't pity me, Leonardo. I'm getting plenty out of this as well."

Leo frowned but slowly nodded back to the turtle. "It still has to be hard to be away from your family," Leo said. "If you ever need anything, my clan and I would be more than willing to help you."

Lenape frowned at Leo as if he was unsure how to respond. But Leo waited until he got a nod from the other turtle before he turned and headed quickly back to Raphael's side.

Raph had been watching a demonstration by another competitor when he felt Leo's fingers slide shakily into his own. He turned to his mate and then immediately pulled Leo close so that his mouth was pressed to the side of Leo's face as he spoke.

"What happened? Bunnies okay?"

Akito subtly watched his fathers. He didn't want to eavesdrop but was desperate to know what Violet's mother had wanted. He wasn't going to deny that he was hoping to see Violet while they were here in her world. But he noticed that his dad looked rather stiff and upset so he slid his eyes away and forced himself to wait until his pops had a chance to do his magic and calm his dad down.

Leo nodded and let his face nuzzle into the side of Raph's face for a moment before he pulled away.

"Emi would like the bunnies to return to their training with me," Leo said, turning towards Akito and Machi as well as he spoke.

"Yeah?" Akito asked excitedly.

Machi perked up as well and Leo had to smile at their excitement to have their friends returned to them.

"Yes," Leo said. "They should even be here later to support you, Machi."

Machi bounced on the balls of her small feet and grabbed hold of Akito's arm to shake it a few times in her continued excitement.

"What about their uncle?" Akito asked.

"Miss Emi has decided that the bunnies should train with us and not go on further missions with Mr. Usagi for now."

Akito was immediately relieved. Thinking about Mr. Usagi made him uncomfortable not only for Violet and her siblings, but because he felt guilty in regards to the last time he had seen him. Mr. Usagi had been a constant figure in his life even before Akito came to live with Leonardo and Raphael. And while he hadn't been around much the past couple years, for reasons Akito was unaware of, he knew his dad would still expect him to show Mr. Usagi respect as an elder. But instead, on their last meeting, Akito had charged into the dojo to interrupt the conversation between his dad and Mr. Usagi, yelled at Violet's uncle for not only callously taking the bunnies away on a strange mission, but for claiming that he was now taking them away for good, and then he knocked the rabbit unconscious. He was going to have to apologize sooner or later and he was not looking forward to it.

Master Splinter and April appeared by their sides then, wanting to congratulate Machi on the high score of her first event, and Raph took advantage of the kids' diverted attention to turn back to Leo.

"I kind of wish I could be there when the rabbit finds out," he murmured over to Leo.

"Well, I _was_ there," Leo said, not meeting Raph's eyes. "Usagi was secretly listening in on my and Emi's conversation. He and I just had a little discussion as well."

Raph tightened his hold on Leo's hand and pulled him a few feet away from their family members. "You _just_ saw him? He appeared in the first five goddamn minutes that you walked away from me? What'd he want?"

"He - ," Leo paused, trying to find the right word that wouldn't anger Raphael unnecessarily, " – he was concerned about our safety. He is worried about additional resistance members coming after us since we've made ourselves so visible."

Raphael remembered Leo's shaky grip from a few moments ago and watched Leo actually struggle to keep emotion from his face.

"What _else_ did he say, Fearless?" Raph asked him in a low voice. "Did he threaten ya about the bunnies?"

Leo shook his head. "He didn't really mention the bunnies."

Raph waited but Leo didn't say anything further. "And?"

"And I just ran into Lenape on my way back to you."

Raphael rolled his eyes and ran his hand up and down Leo's arm. "Well there's no real reason we should see the rabbit again, right?"

He watched Leo roll his shoulders in response. He could see that there was more to this, but based on the way Leo was still avoiding his eyes, he knew he wasn't going to get the real answer in the middle of this arena. He pulled Leo in close again and kissed the side of his face. "We'll finish this later."

Leo nodded solemnly before turning back to rejoin the kids and Master Splinter.

* * *

 **A/N** : Well, reviews have been MIA on the site for a few days (although I still receive them via email). And in honor of a review left on the last chapter, a line from _this_ chapter is dedicated to you, Flikaroo. I'm sure you'll recognize which one.


	20. Chapter 20

They spent the rest of the morning watching additional competitors run through katas, listening to Mikey and Donnie bicker back and forth over about the appropriate use of code words over the ear pieces and keeping their eyes open for foxes.

Leo was thankful when the competition shut down for lunch, especially since it cut off the conversation that stemmed from Mikey asking Donnie why the word _abbreviation_ was so stinkin long.

They regrouped, left the arena together and walked to a restaurant attached to the main stadium for lunch. They were seated around a large table and Raphael dug into his meal as he listened to Leo review the afternoon event with Machi.

He turned to Casey next to him and finally noticed that his tiny side kick was not at the table.

"Mona apparently made a new friend," Casey said, speaking around the food in his mouth. "So, we doin more of the same this afternoon?"

"Ya bored already, Jones?"

"Well, with April off with Master Splinter and Mona off doin who knows what, I lost my post partner. Ya wanna hang in my part of the stadium this afternoon?" He watched Raph's eyes dip and slide over to Leonardo. "Never mind, man. Ya gotta stay close to the kids, right?"

"Yeah, proud pops and all that," Raph said, shooting Casey a grateful grin before he elbowed Leo and nodded towards his plate, reminding him to also eat his own lunch.

When they returned to the arena, they were immediately impressed to see that the main floor had been transferred into an elaborate obstacle course.

Akito was staring wide-eyed at the course, an unwelcome pang of jealousy shooting through him as he imagined his own ability to jump and balance his way through it, when he heard a familiar and welcome voice behind him.

"I bet you'd break the record if you ran through that thing."

Leo watched his son spin and pull Violet into a hug at the sound of her voice. He watched how easily Violet relaxed against Akito's chest as she hugged him back. There was a content sigh shared between the two of them before Violet turned to Machi next and, to Leo's appreciation, began asking the little fox detailed questions about her first event. She then moved towards Leo with uncertain eyes, and Leo vowed to himself that he was going to get to the bottom of whatever Usagi had been up to with the young bunnies.

"Thank you, Master Leonardo," Violet said. "Our mother told us you agreed to let us return to training with you. It has cheered everyone up immensely."

"I'm glad to hear it, Violet," Leo said. "Are your siblings here?"

"They're finishing their schoolwork," she said, rather sheepishly. "They'll be here later."

"Are you supposed to be finishing your schoolwork?" Leo asked.

"This is a special occasion, Fearless," Raph said, jumping in to wrap an arm around Leo's shoulder in order to give him a little shake.

Leo sent Raph a mock side-glare before he nodded towards Akito's direction, dismissing Violet from a lecture before it could be given.

"Wait, Violet," he said, stepping forward. He lowered his voice slightly before he continued. "When you and your siblings came with Usagi to our building a few weeks ago, how did you get in?"

Violet ducked her eyes for a moment and then said, "Uncle Usagi had one of my brothers open the rooftop door."

Leo thanked her and nodded towards Akito again. He watched her rejoin their son and then began talking before Raphael could ask questions.

"Donnie removed Usagi's retina passcode privileges a few years ago at my request. I assumed he managed to get into our building a few weeks ago by having one of the bunnies let him in. Just wanted to confirm it."

Raphael frowned. He couldn't stand the uneasy look on Leo's face. He rested a hand on Leo's shoulder and leaned into him. "Damn it, Fearless, what _else_ did that rabbit say to ya?"

"Its not what he said," Leo murmured back. "Its _how_ he said it." He stopped talking abruptly and shook his head. "I don't want to get into it right now, Raphie." He rested a hand over Raphael's warm hand and gave it a squeeze. "Lets just get Machi through this event and then we'll head back to our rooms, okay?"

Raph nodded regretfully and released Leo's shoulder.

Their family scattered around the arena once again and they watched as other competitors ran through the obstacle course as they waited for Machi's turn.

"Now, eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?" Woody's voice rang through their ear pieces after another hour at their posts and Leo had to smile if only because a joking Woody was a good sign. He hadn't failed to notice that he hadn't heard Woody through the _commbits_ all day, even though the chance to play with them seemed like the kind of thing that Woody would've normally enjoyed.

"I love you so much right now for the Jurassic park quote, dude," Mikey chimed in.

Raphael groaned, and let anyone near him think it was due to the conversation in their ears. But twenty minutes later he realized he wasn't going to be able to ignore the cramping pain in his abdomen anymore and he let himself fall into one of the seats in their designated area. His head dropped down to his hands and Leo was immediately crouched in front of him with his hands resting on Raph's knees.

Raph lifted his head and smiled meekly at those concerned blue eyes. "Don't feel good," Raphael said. "Stomach hurts."

"Want help to the restroom?" Leo asked in a low voice. He rested a hand across Raph's forehead and found that his skin wasn't any warmer than normal.

"No," Raph said, shaking his head. "Mach is up next."

"Yeah, but Raph-," Leo was interrupted by the announcement of the next contestant, _Hamato Machi_.

"Go help her get set up," Raph said. "Tell her I'm watchin."

Leo frowned. He stood, though, and went immediately to Machi to give her a few last words of encouragement. Akito was already there, however, with one hand on her small shoulder as he reminded her of how easily she had jumped from one rooftop to another with him a couple months prior.

"I know it's timed, but you can still stop for a moment before each jump for a calming breath. Better than jumping too fast and falling off and being disqualified," Akito said to her.

Machi nodded up to him, smiled at Leo and turned to walk to the start.

"You're a good big brother, Akito," Leo said, squeezing his son's shoulder as they moved down the line to get a better view. "Eyes on Machi," Leo said into the communicator.

Machi waited at the starting line and as soon as she got the go ahead, moved easily over the quintuple steps and sprang forward to catch the hanging rope, which she quickly climbed. She paused at the top of the rope, as Akito had suggested, and took a breath before she used her weight to swing the rope forward, allowing her to close some of the distance between herself and the balance swing before she leapt forward. The swing immediately tilted with her weight and she scrambled to grab one of the ropes holding up the wide board, catching herself before she could slide off one of the sides. She paused for another moment and shot wide eyes down to Akito and Leo at the near fall.

Leo let out a breath as he watched her rebalance the swing and prepare for the next jump. He turned towards Raph, intending to share a relieved smile with him, but his eyes narrowed as he caught the look of utter pain on his mate's poor face.

"I need everyone here now," Leo said quickly into the communicator. He quickly ordered Akito to stay where he was and keep his eyes on Machi before he rushed back to Raphael's side. "Raphie?" he asked, quickly crouching in front of him once again.

"Gonna- be - sick," Raphael whispered out in between panting breaths.

Master Splinter and April appeared next to them and Leo quickly asked them to collect Machi at the end of the obstacle course and to lead everyone back to their rooms before he attempted to pick Raphael up from his seat.

"Not gonna be carried out of here," Raph grumbled as he tried to push Leo's arms away.

Leo glared lightly back at him and responded by quickly placing one of Raph's arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a standing position, allowing him to walk, albeit assisted, instead.

"Fine," Leo said, moving them forward as quickly as he could manage with Raph's stumbling feet.

Thankfully they made it into the closest restroom before Raphael began hurling.

* * *

Leo wasn't sure how he'd even managed to get Raphael out of the public restroom and back to their own quarters, but Raph seemed a little happier to be wrapped around a private toilet.

Leo stood back and waited impatiently as Donnie checked over the poor emerald turtle. He was relieved to know that the rest of the clan, including the children, had returned to their grouped rooms safely.

But Leo couldn't care about any additional details about what the clan was doing right now as he watched Raphael shudder, vomit and then collapse against the toilet rim once again. He had long ago pulled all of Raph's gear off of him and couldn't keep the worry off his face as he watched Donnie lean in once more to try to check Raph's vitals.

"Go. Away. Donnie," Raphael murmured, letting each word leave him on an exhale as he tried not to do anything to tempt his stomach to try to empty itself yet again. Leo had placed a wet washcloth on the back of his neck at some point and he moved a hand slowly to knock it off since it was beginning to make him feel chilled, which would mean he might shiver, which would mean more yakking.

"It's not the flu, right?" Leo asked. He picked up the discarded washcloth from the floor and began twisting his fingers around it. "He doesn't seem to have a fever. Or could it be a stomach bug?"

"Look at me Raph," Donnie said, doing his best to ignore Leo as he checked Raph's pulse. Raphael finally opened his eyes in Donnie's direction and Donnie shined a light over both eyes.

"I mean, no one else is sick, but maybe he's just the first?" Leo asked as he began to pace behind them.

"Toxidrome," Donnie muttered.

"Toxi – _what_?" Leo asked, halting in his steps.

"Group of symptoms that can appear after contact with a toxin," Donnie said, looking up at Leo as he spoke. "The vomiting, the increased heart beat, the pupils. Leo, I'm not one hundred percent without running some tests, but it kind of looks like Raph has been poisoned."

Leo dropped to his knees beside Raphael and placed his hand gently on one of Raphael's arms before quickly sputtering, "Well, what do we do? Can you run those tests here? Will it tell you how to make him better?"

"I don't really have any equipment to run tests for poisons, although with certain types of poison, vomiting the toxin up, which he's been doing a magnificent job of, is all the treatment needed."

"I'm. Right. Here," Raph murmured.

Leo rubbed Raph's arm in apology for talking about him as if he wasn't in the room, but stayed focused on Donnie. "I don't want to _guess_ , Donatello."

"Well, Leo, we are in a place where we're free to take him to an emergency room."

"Let's do that," Leo said, already rising to his feet as he spoke.

"No," Raph groaned, mainly because he couldn't fathom possibly moving.

"Yes," Leo said with enough force to cause one of Raph's green eyes to open and peer up at him. Leo saw the attempted glare from the sick turtle but his only response was to cross his arms and glare back. Raphael let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes again in resignation.

* * *

It was the middle of the dinner rush when the turtle appeared in the busy kitchen of the arena restaurant.

When he'd waited on their party during lunch, a strange combination of creatures, including the first humans he'd ever seen, he was pretty sure the blue-clad turtle hadn't looked up at him even once. They'd had a young competitor at their table, and the blue one had spent most of the lunch in close conversation with her. Which had been fine with him, because when he'd been given specific instructions on which plate to serve the red-clad turtle, he'd also been told not to attract the attention of the blue one.

So he was surprised now to see the blue-clad turtle barreling towards him with a katana unsheathed while he stood dumbly still with a tray of food up on his shoulder.

Apparently, the blue one did remember who had waited on them earlier that day.


	21. Chapter 21

The blue eyes were icy. Cold. And terrifying. He was frozen in place, which was fitting since he'd been shoved into one of the back freezers of the restaurant kitchen. If he lived through this, he was so quitting this job. What kind of coworkers didn't bat an eye when a sword-wielding turtle came in and basically kidnapped one of their most experienced waiters during the dinner rush?

His salamander skin had long ago begun to shiver and, under different circumstances, he probably would've wondered how the turtle wasn't also showing signs of being cold. But right now his main goal was to keep his eyes downward so he wouldn't have to look at the turtle's glare as he felt a trail of blood drip down his neck from the katana blade.

"So you don't put the poison in the food?"

"N-no," he replied.

"And you're just _following orders_ when you put the plate of poison in front of someone?"

"Y-yes." The shivering was becoming stronger and he wondered if the turtle would move the katana away before he shivered the cut on his throat involuntarily deeper.

"So you think I shouldn't hold you at all responsible for the fact that at this very moment someone is in the hospital suffering due to your actions?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't see any answer being the right answer. Another violent shiver and he could feel the katana press harder against his neck as a result.

Leo glared harder. "Who gave you this order?" he growled.

The salamander finally lifted his eyes and did his best to meet that cold icy glare. He could only hold it for a moment before his eyes flew to the side again.

"Who?" Leo growled.

"You're not going to be able to stop them," the salamander said quietly. "They are going to get those foxes back."

Leo's wrist twisted and the hilt of his sword was slammed into the side of the salamander's skull and Leo watched as the creature slid unconscious to the ground. He left him there and stalked out of the freezer, his chest heaving in deep breaths as he felt anger roll over his shoulders and down his arms.

* * *

Leo re-entered Raphael's dark hospital room and found Donatello standing by the window with his arms crossed and a dark expression covering his face. It was a good position to keep his eyes on Raphael as well as to watch anyone who entered the room. And Leo proudly thought that Donnie looked rather imposing and knew that he was right to trust Don to watch over Raph while he was gone.

"Well?" he whispered as he sat immediately beside Raphael and pulled one of his hands into his own. It hadn't taken the hospital long to confirm that Raphael had been poisoned. They said the toxin was meant to attack his organs. Liver and kidneys first. Eventually his heart. But, they were told, Raphael had expelled most of the toxin himself before any real damage was done. It had exhausted him, though, and he'd fallen asleep before Leo had left on his mission back to the restaurant.

"He's no longer dehydrated thanks to the IV saline. And they gave him some medication to help with the stomach spasms, which they said would probably make him drowsy as well," Donnie said. Leo had ordered him not to leave Raphael's side while he was gone, not that he would have with Raphael so sick, but Donnie had the unnerving feeling that Leo believed Raph had been targeted. And that he may still be in danger.

Leo let out a shaky breath and stared down at the IV stuck in the back of the emerald hand he held. His eyes moved to Donnie when he heard a dry laugh from his tall brother. "What?" he asked.

"It just figures," Donnie whispered back, shrugging his shoulders. "Raph almost never gets sick, right? Like his body refuses to let viruses or microbes or infections invade. So someone tries to poison one of us and they pick the one turtle whose body immediately puts up a fight. Immediately begins rejecting and expelling the poison. His body _refused_ to be poisoned, Leo."

Leo knew Dr. Donnie wouldn't be joking unless Raphael was truly out of danger and Leo let out his own dark chuckle. He couldn't completely relax though, because he knew that Raphael hadn't been randomly selected.

"Did he notice I was gone?" Leo asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah. I tried to tell him you just went back to check on the kids, but I'm a terrible liar."

Leo chuckled again. "Yes, you are."

"Did you find the bastard?" Donnie asked, the mirth gone from his voice.

"Yes," Leo said, but he didn't elaborate.

Donatello watched Leo sit and stare hard at Raphael. He wished he could tell what Leo was thinking but despite spending their entire lives together, he'd never learned the nuances of Leo's subtle expressions. He was about to ask Leo if he should leave them and return to the others when Leo spoke again.

"He didn't want to come here," Leo said softly. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Raph's hand.

"This isn't your fault, Leo," Donnie said.

"It is," Leo said with a sigh. "It is, Donatello." He paused again and stared down at Raphael as he slept. "Donnie, the kids aren't safe here. I need you to go back to our rooms and bring everyone home immediately."

He waited to see if Donnie was going to ask any questions. But Donnie only moved around the bed to Leo's side and dug out something to hand to Leo from the bag he had slung across his shell.

"It's an extra transporter," Donnie said. "I thought I should carry one around while we were here," he said rather sheepishly. "I've got a few more back in my luggage. You can use it to transport yourselves home when he's discharged."

"Thanks, Donnie."

* * *

When he woke up, he immediately noticed something heavy on his plastron, although he didn't mind it, as it was putting pressure on his sore stomach in the best way. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around Leo's shell.

"Where the hell did ya go?" he growled at him. He couldn't see Leo's face but he could tell he was wide awake.

It was still dark in the hospital room, but Leo lifted his head and examined Raph's face. His emerald skin had lost the ashen look he'd had earlier and those eyes were shining brightly again. Leo smiled softly at those green eyes, despite the anger he could see in them. Pressure on his own plastron always relieved his own upset stomach so he'd planted himself on top of Raphael as soon as Donnie had left them earlier.

"How are you feeling?"

"M'fine."

Leo ducked his face back into Raphael's neck and inhaled Raph's scent. "I could've lost you, Raphie," he whispered.

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me," Raph said, gruffly as he tightened his hold on Leo.

Leo huffed out a small breath as he remembered Donnie's words from earlier. Indeed, it certainly would take a lot more to take down his strong warrior turtle.

"Don't think yer gettin out of answerin me," Raph said. "Where'd ya go?" He nudged Leo's shoulder to force Leo's face back up and was suddenly shocked to see Leo's face set in a fierce expression.

"Where do you think?" Leo said. He moved himself carefully off Raph's plastron and sat stiffly on the edge of the bed beside him with his hands formed into angry fists on top of his knees.

"We've got almost the entire clan here and ya ran off by yerself? Ya should've brought Mike or Don with ya. Or waited till I was out of this bed," Raphael growled, feeling his anger rise as his earlier fears were confirmed.

"They tried to kill you, Raphael," Leo growled in return, refusing to be scolded for doing what he knew needed to be done.

"Who? The resistance group?"

Leo sighed. He almost didn't know where to begin. "I may not have brought any of our family with me, Raph, but I didn't go alone earlier."

Raphael watched Leo's stony face and felt his stomach drop, an incredibly unpleasant feeling after what he'd just been through. "What the hell happened?"

"It's hospital policy to call the police and report attempted murder," Leo said quietly. "When the police arrived and heard the story, they asked me to help them. There have been other reports of people being poisoned connected to that arena restaurant. But the police haven't been able to pinpoint who's to blame in the restaurant, mainly because most of the victims die." He sent Raph a pointed look.

"So they asked _you_ to figure it out? Alone?" Raph asked, incredulously. He wanted to sit up, mainly because he thought his glare would work better if they were at eye level instead of him lying on his back. But now that Leo's weight was gone from his plastron, he could feel how sore his stomach actually was. He wasn't about to budge.

"Not alone. The police were at the restaurant with me. And I _did_ figure it out," Leo said, turning back towards Raphael.

"Ya could've been hurt," Raph growled.

"If you think for one goddamn minute that I was going to just sit here after they tried to kill you -,"

Raphael's hand pulling on the back of his neck cut him off as Raph managed to lower Leo's face enough to press their mouths together.

"I'm fine," Raph whispered to him after a few moments. "I'm gonna be fine."

Leo let his forehead fall to Raph's forehead and breathed in his scent again. He was practically shaking with anger and did his best to calm his breathing as he felt Raph's hands move reassuringly up and down his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Raph," he finally said. "You didn't even want to come here. And I've already let you down once today. And now they've gone after you -,"

"Whoa, Fearless," Raph said, cutting him off again. "I fully agreed that we needed to come here and try to find Suzu."

Leo sat upright again before he stood and took a few steps away from Raph's bed. Sunlight was beginning to stream in through the window and Raph watched it hit Leo's shell where he stood. Raph fumbled with the buttons on the side of the bed until he finally figured out which one would lift the mattress so he could sit upright without upsetting his sore stomach.

"I've been thinking about what Usagi said earlier. He knew, Raph. He knew the resistance group was going to come after you."

"Why would the resistance group poison me?" Raph asked.

"They want Akito and Machi," Leo said, turning to meet Raph's eyes again.

"So why not poison yer food too?"

"Because they want me, too," Leo said, softly.

"That doesn't make sense," Raph said, although he frowned as he watched guilt creep onto Leo's face. "What didja mean when you said ya already let me down once today?"

Leo opened his mouth and then closed it again. After another moment he finally managed to say, "You love me because I'm a ninja. And I'm strong."

"Come here," Raph said immediately and lifted a hand until Leo got close enough to allow him to grab and then yank Leo back down on the mattress to sit beside him. "I love you because yer you, Leonardo. Because yer _you_. What is this really about?"

"I don't feel like a ninja when I'm around him, Raph. I don't feel strong. The way he looks at me. The way he smells me-,"

"Smells ya?" Raphael growled.

"- I freeze, Raph. And for every second of vulnerability, I know I'm letting you down."

Raphael ignored the twinge in his stomach caused by movement and pulled Leo into him. "You havin a normal reaction around someone who has betrayed ya in the past has nothin to do with lettin me down, babe. Those feelings are just yer body's way of tellin ya that yer not safe around him. You cannot blame yerself for his actions, Leonardo," he said fiercely, desperate to chase off the guilt and sadness he could see in Leo's eyes. He nuzzled his face into the side of Leo's face.

Leo lifted his hands and let them slide up Raph's upper arms, over his shoulders and to the back of his neck before he leaned forward to kiss him. He thought about Raph's words as their lips pressed slowly against each other. He knew that Raphael didn't say things that he didn't mean.

He pulled away to look at Raphael again. The sunlight hitting Raph's face made him glow, a thought he'd keep to himself, as those green eyes shined back at him with real sincerity.

"Thank you, Raphael," he finally said after a few moments.

Raphael smiled in response. It used to be a lot harder to pry guilt out of Leo's mind. Either Leo's guilt catcher was wearing down as they got older or he was getting better at chasing the feeling away. He loosened his hold on Leo only to allow him to sit upright next to him again.

"What does the rabbit have to with the resistance group wanting you as well, though?"

"I think Usagi must be involved with them now."

Raphael's eyes widened. "I thought he was on the side of the good guys here."

"He was," a new voice said from the doorway.

* * *

 **A/N** : You guys are awesome. I just hit 100 reviews on this story (thanks again, yukio87, you were the 100th!) It reminded me of this quote I recently read from _pro-antagonist_ :

"Sometimes it's really lonely being an author. Because when you're writing, you're doing it alone, and there's no one there to gush over silly feelings with you. And I suppose that's why reader comments are important to authors. It's not about the compliments. It's that we've been alone with our thoughts this whole time. It's an awesome feeling when a friend shows up to share them with you."

This quote will probably always stick with me because it's absolutely true. Sometimes your comments confirm that _my_ thoughts came across the way I wanted them to in the story. Sometimes they give me a new idea for the plot (or for future stories). And sometimes they're just funny and I get a good laugh - in the best way.

So thanks again for showing up.


	22. Chapter 22

_Those are Machi's eyes_.

That was his first thought. His second was that she was much older than he was expecting.

"Suzu?" Raphael asked, staring at the fox standing in his hospital room doorway.

She nodded slowly in response before entering the room and closing the door tightly behind her.

Leo kept hold of one of Raph's hands but stood up next to his bed to face her. "You found us."

She nodded again. "Are the children still here?"

"No," Leo said, turning to Raph. "I sent them all home last night." He watched Raph nod in relief in response before he turned back to Suzu.

"Good," Suzu said, relieved as well.

"Please sit," Leo said, indicating one of the chairs in the room.

Suzu looked back and forth between the two of them before she took a seat. Leo followed suit and sat again in the chair that he'd previously pulled up to Raph's bedside.

"Did you see Machi in the competition?" Leo asked.

"Yes. It was a very public display for a family of real ninja," she said.

"We were tryin to draw ya out," Raph said.

"Well it worked," Suzu said. "I'll admit that initially I was concerned for Akito and Machi's safety, although it didn't take me long to figure out just how many eyes you had on them." She paused again and looked between the two turtles. She had seen them in the past, without their knowledge, but it was quite strange to be sitting face to face with them now. "The truth is, I work undercover for the government here. And I was called in when the police were notified of your poisoning, Raphael. We've been trying to figure out the connection between that restaurant and the resistance for some time. You did a really good thing last night, Leonardo."

"So your work is against the resistance?" Leo asked.

"Yes. I joined the agency when my sister married Akio. I had to disappear from her life, but it was the only way I could think of to try to protect my baby sister from Akio's family and the rest of that group. Although, it didn't really work, since they had no qualms in killing their own brother when they killed my sister." Her eyes drifted towards the wall.

"We're very sorry for your loss," Leo said quietly.

Raphael shifted in the bed. "Why didn't you pursue custody of the kids?" he asked.

Suzu's eyes lifted back to them and she shook her head. "They weren't safe here. And I couldn't protect them on my own, but I knew that you would be able to."

"How did you know that?" Leo asked.

"There's something else you should know. You see, Usagi was my partner for many years. When I heard that he had a ninjitsu master from another dimension, a good friend of his at that, train his nieces and nephews, I asked him to approach the uncle who had custody of the children to see if he'd like to enroll Akito in your class. Their uncle didn't know I had anything to do with the suggestion. He just thought a famous local samurai rabbit was offering him a special offer and I knew he wouldn't be able to resist the thought of Akito learning ninjitsu for their group's future purposes."

Leo's wide eyes shot to Raphael before going back to Suzu.

"I just – I had heard so much about how good and honorable you were through Usagi, and I thought you'd be able to help Akito, eventually. But I had no idea that their group would come up with a plan to abduct you all those years ago and for that I'm very sorry. It's my fault you were dragged into all that."

"It's not your fault I was abducted," Leo said, shaking his head. "And in the end, Akito and Machi were taken away from that group."

"That's kind of you to say," Suzu said. In all honesty, the events of those days still weighed on her.

Raphael frowned but stayed silent. He wasn't as forgiving as Leo when it came to Leo's safety. But he could see many pieces of their family's strange puzzle coming together.

"When'd the rabbit stop bein yer partner?" Raph asked, remembering her use of the past tense earlier.

"Almost three years ago," Suzu said. "I'm not sure what happened -," she noticed Leonardo shoot Raphael a strange look as he leaned back in his chair. "What?" she asked them.

Leo shrugged his shoulders and when it was clear he wasn't going to say anything, Raphael spoke up.

"He wants Leo," Raph said frankly, "and Leo quit speakin to him about three years ago."

Suzu raised an eyebrow and seemed to consider this. "Well, that would explain why he only had you poisoned, Raphael," she said.

"So we're sure that the rabbit tried to kill me?" Raph asked and even Leo was shocked to hear the surprise in Raphael's voice. But somehow it was easier for Raph to believe that some faceless member of the resistance group hell-bent on getting their hands on his kids had tried to kill him over the jealous, but typically honor-bound samurai.

Suzu nodded and Leo dropped his head into his hands.

"My sources say Usagi not only switched sides, but that he's basically running the group now," Suzu added.

"Wait, wait," Leo said, lifting his head back up, "we had some wolves in our dimension a couple months ago. Usagi showed up and saved my brother and me from a fire the wolves had trapped us in. _He's_ the one who told me the wolves were after the kids. But you're saying that he was actually in charge of the wolves?"

Raphael reached over and squeezed Leo's shoulder, doing his best to calm him. "His transporter was damaged in the fire, Fearless," he said. "He was probably tryin to bring ya here, but it brought the three of you to turtle land instead and he knew he'd have to rely on our clan to bring him back."

"He lied to me and I didn't even realize it," Leo said.

"It doesn't sound like he lied, necessarily," Suzu offered. "It just sounds like he didn't tell you the whole truth."

"And after we captured the wolves and called Usagi to come pick them up so they could be tried and punished here -," Leo stopped as Suzu began shaking her head.

"We just handed those damn wolves right back to him," Raph groaned, sharing an angry glance with an equally irritated Leo.

Leo sighed in frustration. "He took his nieces and nephews on a mission a couple weeks ago," Leo said, suddenly thinking of the bunnies. "He came back angry that they had failed. And the kids were upset. No one would say what happened, though. Do you have any idea?"

"No. I'm sorry. We've done our best to track his movements, so we know he left this dimension, but we don't know where he went and our sources don't know what he was doing. And at this point, the only thing holding the resistance group back from making a move to overtake our government is the need for more firepower. It's the same reason they abducted you previously, Leonardo, only this time they're counting on it coming from Akito and Machi."

"They're not gettin our kids," Raph growled.

"Usagi and those wolves have experienced Akito's firepower," Leo said. "Unfortunately, they know what he's capable of."

Suzu's eyes focused on Leo. "Is he knocking people unconscious?"

"Yes," Leo said. "That's why we're here." He paused and looked over to Raph who gave him a nod. "This is going to sound strange, but, well, Raph and I, we got to meet Tomoko and Akio thanks to a coma and meditation and probably a spiritual plane." He watched as Suzu's eyes widened but she didn't show any signs of disbelief on her face.

"They told us yer name," Raph added. "They said you'd be hard to find, but that we should try because you could help the kids."

Leo watched Suzu smile in response. Her face had been rather tense since she first entered the room, but now her expression softened.

After a few moments, she finally said, "I was almost twelve when Tomoko was born. Our mother joked that I was her second mother. And when our parents were killed a short time later, I helped our Grandmother Machi raise Tomoko. If anyone could come to you in a vision, it would certainly be her. She was a very stubborn fox."

Raph huffed out a breath and muttered, "Family trait."

Leo glanced at Raph and appreciated the comparison, but quickly turned back to Suzu.

"Why haven't you ever come to us?" Leo asked quickly. "Family is more important to us than anything else. We would've welcomed you into our lives, for Akito and Machi." He looked to Raph and got another squeeze to his shoulder.

Suzu paused. She'd considered approaching them more than once. But she shook the thought away. "I always pictured them safer the farther away I was. And Usagi knows that. He's clearly still counting on me staying out of this."

"Come back with us," Leo said.

"We – the kids – could use yer help," Raph added.

Leo pulled the transporter Donnie had left for him and held it up. "And we can go right now."

* * *

 **A/N** : Please just tell me that many many dots have been connected for all of these stories.


	23. Chapter 23

"I can walk, Fearless," Raph said, hiding a small smile.

"Let me help you anyway," Leo murmured to him, nuzzling his face into the side of Raph's face as he tightened his hold on the emerald arm that he'd wrapped around his own shoulders.

Once Suzu had agreed to travel with them, they'd immediately transported back to their own dimension, landing them on the rooftop of their home.

Raph smiled at the face nuzzle and allowed Leo to help him walk across the rooftop.

Suzu looked slowly around this strange world. "If I remember correctly, you live in a world of only humans?"

"Well, mostly humans," Leo said, leaning forward to let the retinal scanner do its job. The door unlocked and he maneuvered it open while still keeping Raph pulled in close to his side. "There are a few other mutants living here, but we all do our best to keep out of sight of the humans."

Suzu followed them into the stairwell. "And yet, you live in an apartment in the middle of this city?"

"This whole building belongs to our brother, Donnie," Raph said, "and he's made it safe for us to live here."

"And this is where you've raised Akito and Machi?"

"Yes," Leo said, opening the third floor entry door and leading them into their hallway.

Raph pulled his arm away, refusing to go into their home while being practically carried. Leo watched him for a moment, thinking that he still looked a little weak. But, overall, he thought he actually looked wonderful compared to how bad his situation could be due to the poisoning.

Leo opened their apartment door and made it only one step in before Machi flung herself at his plastron in a hug.

"I told you it was them," Machi said to Akito behind her. She went from Leo's plastron to Raph's, hugging him gently around the middle. "You're all better?" she asked him quietly.

"Yeah," Raph said, wrapping an arm around her in response. "Just ate something bad."

Akito's eyes narrowed at that. He doubted their dad would've rushed everyone home if his pops had just had an upset stomach or food poisoning. But before he could question it, a fox entered their home behind their fathers.

His mind immediately flashed back to a fuzzy image of his birth parents standing with this particular fox next to them. Of this fox reading him stories. Of this fox letting him nap in her lap.

"Aunt Suzu," he said as her eyes slowly moved over him.

She'd seen him at the competition, but she hadn't had the time to stand still and really look at her favorite nephew. To take in how very tall he was. Her eyes filled with tears and she reached forward and pulled him into a hug and just hoped that he was going to be okay with it.

Akito stiffened for only a moment before quickly lifting his arms and hugging her in return. "It worked," he murmured. "We found you."

"Yes," Suzu murmured in return.

Raph noticed that Machi's arms had tightened around him when Suzu came into the room and he tightened the arm he had around her in response. Family or no, this was still a stranger to Machi. Although she seemed to relax a little bit as she watched Akito hug their aunt.

Akito pulled back and Suzu quickly let him. Akito held out an arm and Machi let go of Raphael and stepped into Akito's side.

"This is our Aunt Suzu," he murmured to her.

Suzu's face softened once again as she had a chance to really look at Machi as well. She didn't try to pull Machi into a hug, however. Instead, she said, "I saw that kata you performed at the competition yesterday. I was quite impressed."

"Thank you," Machi said, politely.

"Aunt Suzu, this is our Grandfather, Master Splinter," Akito said proudly, turning back towards the room to make additional introductions.

Master Splinter bowed in greeting and then Akito turned to the last one in the room.

"And this is Violet," Akito said with a smile.

"Violet is one of Usagi's nieces," Leo said automatically, looking up from the text he was sending the rest of the clan to let them all know that he and Raph had returned with Suzu. "Your mom knows you're here?"

Violet nodded in response to Master Leonardo. "I was in the rooms with everyone when Akito's Uncle Donatello returned and said he was bringing everyone back here. He suggested I come along."

Leo nodded, thankful for Donnie's insight. He turned to Raphael. "Do you want to go lay down-," he stopped as Raph began to glare at him. He sighed and looped his fingers into Raph's fingers and was happy that Raph at least let him lead him to the couch to sit down.

Their apartment door opened and Woody and Mikey entered with platters of food.

"That was an invite to come over and have lunch, right?" Mikey asked as he and Woody began setting the food up on the main table.

The main door opened again and Donnie, Sadie and Gabe entered.

"Cause I may have sent everyone a text to let them know where the food could be found," Mikey added.

Leo looked to Suzu to see how comfortable she was, but found that she didn't seem to notice the room filling as she stood and continued to talk to Akito and Machi.

"I'm fine, Donnie," Raph said, batting Don's hands away from him as his brother tried to do a quick vitals check.

"Did you get discharged or did you just leave?" Donnie asked, eyeing Raph's hand. He was pretty sure that if Raphael had been discharged, the hospital would've covered the hand that had held the IV. But since there was no bandage, he was guessing Raph had ripped the IV out himself and walked away without a word. He looked back up at Raph's face where he got a lopsided grin for an answer. He let out an aggravated sigh, went into Leo and Raph's main bathroom and returned with some antiseptic and a band-aid.

Leo greeted Sam and Miwa as they entered and listened as Akito proudly introduced them to Suzu. He watched as Machi made herself a plate of food and moved to intervene when he saw Machi seat herself next to Raphael on the couch.

"Want some, papa?" Machi asked.

Raph eyed the heavy plate of food Machi had brought over and resisted the urge to rest his hand across his sore stomach.

Leo leaned over the back of the couch and gently moved her plate away from Raph's face. "I don't think he's hungry yet, honey." He smiled back at the grateful look Raphael shot him.

"Um, Leo," Donnie said, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

Leo sighed inwardly. He knew that tone of voice meant bad news.

Raphael watched Leo and Don quietly leave the apartment with a frown. Fearless looked tired, understandably so, but he still wished he could do something about it. For now, he sat and listened to their family's noises as they collected plates of food. Machi was unusually silent next to him and he turned his attention to her.

"Why aren't ya sittin with yer aunt?" he asked as he noticed that Akito and Suzu had finally seated themselves around the main table with most of the rest of the group to eat.

Machi shrugged and took a small bite of her sandwich.

"Ya were really excited to help find her," Raph added.

Machi looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "I was."

"So?"

"Well-," she said and then paused. Actually seeing her aunt had felt different than she imagined. And seeing Akito so happy with Suzu was making her nervous. "We still get to stay here, right?" she asked in a low voice, careful not to let anyone else hear her. "I know how daddy feels about family. And she's family. But that doesn't mean that we have to go live-,"

Raphael pulled her into his plastron so quickly that her plate of food was knocked onto the floor. "Yer _my_ girl," he said in a soft growl. "Ya ain't goin anywhere."

Machi immediately relaxed into the hug.

"Ya hear me?" Raph asked.

She breathed out a sigh and nodded into his chest. "I just – family is important."

"That's true," Raph said, "but me and yer dad are yer family, right?" He waited for her to nod again before continuing. "Besides, ya wouldn't go live with yer Aunt Miwa just cause she's family, right?"

Machi leaned up and looked at him with a falsely innocent expression that Raphael immediately knew she had learned from Leonardo. "Aunt Miwa let us eat Oreos for lunch once when she was here babysitting."

Raph scowled at her before digging his fingers into her sides.

"I get it!" Machi said with a giggle, twisting her body away from him until she landed on the ground to get away from the tickling.

"Good. Now, go get some more food for lunch. _Real_ food. No cookies."

"K," Machi said with a grin. She scooped up the food that had fallen on the floor and didn't hesitate to lean in and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before she practically skipped her way into the kitchen.

Raph watched her go and was shocked by a sudden shiver down his spine seconds later as Leo's fingers trailed across his neck.

Leo leaned down from where he stood behind the couch and circled his arms around Raph's neck. "I love you, Raphie," he whispered.

"How long ya been standin back there?" Raph asked with a small smile.

"Long enough to watch you be an amazing father," Leo murmured.

Raphael flushed. He was acutely aware of their entire family sitting mere feet away and pushed at Leo's arms. "Go eat yer lunch, ya dork," he said. "I'm gonna go lay down."

Leo pulled his arms away from Raphael's overheated skin with a smile. He rested his hands on the back of the couch and leaned his weight into them. "I wish I could go with you," he said

"Ya should. I know ya didn't sleep at all last night."

"It'd be pretty rude with Suzu here," Leo said, glancing over at the others eating.

"At least tell me yer gonna eat lunch," Raph said, pushing himself off the couch so he could turn and mock glare at Leo. "Lunch yesterday was the last time ya ate, wasn't it?"

"I was busy," Leo said in his own defense as he straightened upright as well.

"Doin what?" Raph teased as he turned and headed into their bedroom.

Leo glared at the retreating shell before shaking his head and turning to get a plate for his own growling stomach.

* * *

Suzu smiled as she listened to Machi's chatter. The little fox had warmed up to her during lunch and for that she was grateful. She'd also appreciated the easy atmosphere of Leonardo and Raphael's apartment as it had filled with their family. The apartment was emptying now, leaving just the little foxes, Akito's friend Violet, Master Splinter and Leonardo. Raphael had disappeared earlier and Suzu was pretty sure he was resting.

"Your fathers told me you both have unique abilities," she said to Akito and Machi. "Would you like to tell me what has happened so far? You're both still so young to have had these abilities pop up already. What triggered them?"

Machi looked down the table to her dad and he gave her an encouraging nod. "Well," she started, and then proceeded to tell her aunt about the different times her head had started buzzing.

"She says it hurts," Akito said, earnestly, hurrying the conversation to the part he hoped their aunt could help with.

Suzu nodded. "It does hurt in the beginning," she said. "It did for me, as well." She had to smile at the eyes that widened around the table at her admission that she had the same ability. "And you?" Suzu asked, turning to Akito.

"The very first time it happened, a wolf from the resistance group was holding Machi up by the scruff of her neck," Akito said.

Suzu nodded slowly. "So, family was in trouble and that's what prompted it for both of you," she said. "That sounds about right."

"So, is there a way to use my ability without knocking out everyone around me?" Akito asked, quickly. "Dad was trying to work on my aim."

"Yes," Suzu said. "Although, your mother was the one with that ability. But I can show you what worked for her."

"Can you show us now?" Machi said, practically jumping up and down in her seat.

Suzu looked down to Leo.

"Let's take it to the dojo," Leo said. He was tired, but the kids were excited and they'd gone through a lot of trouble and a near-death experience for Raphael to get Suzu here. So he pushed himself up from his chair, sent a longing glance towards his bedroom where his favorite emerald pillow was still sleeping, and led the group upstairs.

* * *

 **A/N** : I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer than normal to get out. Sadness hit my household. And I got a little stuck with the plot. The first may have impacted the second. But I think I've figured out how to get the story moving where I want it to go. Thanks for reading.


	24. Chapter 24

Leo dragged out the practice dummy Raph had made for Akito and stood back with Master Splinter, Machi and Violet as Suzu and Akito stood in the center of their dojo.

"What kind of feelings did you have in the past when you felt the energy?"

 _Anger_ , Akito thought immediately. First with Machi in danger, but after that incident, the energy's source had been centered around his thoughts concerning Violet's unexplained absence. His eyes glanced her way guiltily for a moment since he know knew that she had been taken somewhere unpleasant by her uncle at that time. Although she still hadn't told him what had happened. He refocused his attention to his aunt.

"I - was - mad," Akito said haltingly.

"Ever knocked yourself out?"

"Yes," Akito said, glancing guiltily now in his dad's direction.

Suzu smiled fondly which only led to confused looks from the others in the room. She quickly started speaking to explain. "When I found out that your mother, who was a teenager at the time, had been secretly dating your father, I told her it was forbidden and that she'd have to stop. I was sure that Akio was going to be a bad influence or that the whole thing was a trap to get my baby sister into the resistance." Suzu paused to chuckle. "Tomoko threw such a tantrum that not only did her powers show up for the first time, but she knocked herself out with them."

Akito had to smile for a moment as well, picturing his mother as a teenager going through the same issue that he'd been facing when Violet said her uncle was taking her away for good.

"And we learned two things from that episode," Suzu said. "First, even though I was standing right in front of her, she did not knock me out. So even though Machi's power can sense things about you, like your whereabouts if you're in trouble, your ability will not work on her. Or me. Or any blood relation. And secondly, anger will only lead to erratic blasts. You can aim and hit whatever you want if you're calm."

Akito frowned. "That sounds easy, but," he paused for a moment. "If I'm out on patrol and trying to stop a criminal, that's not exactly a calm situation." He looked over to his dad for support.

Leo stepped forward to stand with him. "But being calm in that situation is something to strive for," he said, slowly, already deep in thought himself. "And if you're confident in your ability to use your power, that may in turn help you remain calm."

"But," Akito said, pausing again. He glanced at the others in the room. He could feel himself heating up in slight embarrassment. It was difficult to admit he wasn't good at something. "I – I don't know how to pull up the power without feeling angry or frustrated."

"Honestly, that's the hardest part," Suzu said with a nod. "Your mother began meditating to practice being calm. Do you think you can commit to working on it?"

Machi snorted from her spot across the room. Akito turned and sent her a mock glare.

"I think he can handle that," Leo added, ducking his face towards his own father with a smile.

Suzu smiled as well as she was beginning to easily read the energies of those in the room, giving her insights into their personalities and relationships with each other. She turned her attention towards Machi.

"You know, Machi, our ability is all based in our mind and I found that meditation helped me hone it as well, which led to less buzzing and pain." She smiled as she could practically see Machi's lower lip jut out in a pout.

"So more meditation for everyone," Master Splinter said with a fond smile for his granddaughter as well.

Leo was enjoying this, but he turned back to Suzu. "I can count on one three-fingered hand the number of times I've ever seen Akito angry," he said. "But is he expected to avoid being angry forever?"

"No," Suzu said, reassuringly. "As he learns to control the energy through calmness, it won't come so easily through anger," Suzu said. "Which means he won't have to worry about becoming angry." She grinned again, knowing she had something up her sleeve that would encourage them for the future. "Want to see something cool?"

Even Machi perked up at her aunt's mischievous tone of voice.

"Machi, come over here next to Akito," she instructed. "And, Leonardo, you may want to go stand over there with your father and Violet." She waited until Machi had joined them and Leo had moved away before saying, "Now, I want you two to hold hands and Akito, I want you to pull up that energy, any way you can for now." She leaned down to Machi and whispered something in her ear. Then she stood back.

Leo tilted his head and watched. Akito gripped Machi's hand and shut his eyes while Machi suddenly looked focused. At first nothing happened, and Leo was sure it was partly due to Akito's current difficulty pulling the energy up at will. But then his head jerked in the direction of the practice dummy as it suddenly fell over with a loud thud.

Akito's own eyes popped open at the sound and he quickly looked around to see if anyone other than the dummy was on the ground. When no one appeared hurt, he glanced down at Machi and saw only a huge grin as she practically jumped up and down in excitement over their accomplishment.

Master Splinter was the first to speak as he walked towards the dummy and then glanced over at his grandchildren. "Strength in numbers," he murmured.

"Exactly," Suzu said with a wink.

* * *

Although impressive, Leo could see that the kids were feeling tired after that little maneuver. He suggested they come back to the apartment to relax with a movie. He was about to invite Suzu to join them, as he realized he didn't have much of a plan for where Suzu should stay while she was with them, when Master Splinter invited her to his apartment. Leo figured his father could see that he was tired and had decided to host their guest for a while.

So he left the kids on the couch and yawned as he asked them to keep it down while he rested. He set his katana aside, but didn't even bother removing his gear as he crawled into bed and curled himself around his favorite turtle.

"Hey, babe," Raph murmured. He shifted himself so that he could wrap his arms around Leo.

"Hi," Leo said through another yawn. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that yer in here with me," Raph murmured.

Leo smiled. "But how is your stomach?"

"Could use more Leo," Raph said.

Raph pulled on Leo's shoulder until Leo realized what he meant and shifted himself again until he was centered over Raphael. Raph sighed contentedly with the addition of Leo's therapeutic weight on his plastron. He closed his eyes as he felt Leo press his face back into his neck. He could see how tired Leo was, so he was surprised when his mate didn't fall directly to sleep.

"What's up, Fearless?" he finally asked. "Did you guys start training with Suzu already?"

Leo nodded.

"That go okay?"

Leo nodded again. "I'll fill you in later."

"So then what is it?"

Leo sighed. He was desperate for sleep, and wanted Raphael to continue resting as well.

Raph squeezed him.

"Their home dimension has suffered from multiple attacks from the resistance," Leo said. "We've known this but we've never done anything about it."

"Leo," Raph said fiercely, suddenly wide awake.

"Innocent people have been hurt."

"No, Leonardo-,"

"And that was before they had a skilled samurai leading them. I can't help but feel responsible for Usagi switching sides."

"You are _not_ responsible for the damn rabbit, Leonardo," Raph growled. 'And you are not allowed to feel guilty about his actions or for the _plight_ of an entire other dimension."

Leo sighed.

"They've got their own groups fightin the resistance," Raph growled, refusing to back down.

"It doesn't feel right," Leo murmured.

"Dammit, Fearless," Raph growled out.

"I just can't help but think of the good that will disappear from that world if the resistance is able to overthrow the government. Think about if Shredder had been able to take over here."

Since Raphael couldn't currently see Leo's face, he was left to glare at their ceiling. He didn't want to be angry with Leo for just innately being someone who wanted to help others. For being a hero. For being himself. Raph knew that helping others was one of his own driving forces as well. But protecting their family was Raphael's top priority. And since Leo wasn't going to watch out for himself, Raph was going to do it for him.

"This is not our fight," he bit out.

Leo lifted his head and met Raph's angry eyes. "They're after our children, Raph. Usagi is in charge. Like it or not, we are a part of this."

Raph shook his head, but kept his mouth shut.

"I shouldn't have to talk my strongest warrior into this."

"I'm not just yer warrior, Fearless. I'm also yer advisor," he growled.

Leo nodded, feeling his error. "I'm sorry, Raphael. You're right."

"They've always been after our kids, Leo. And we've kept them safe." He was still angry, but he ran a hand down the side of Leo's face. "And being a strong warrior means nothing if I don't have you."

Leo's own eyes softened. "Maybe I just need sleep," he whispered, wanting to calm Raph and table the discussion for when they were both rested and recovered.

Raph narrowed his eyes. This wasn't Leo agreeing with him. This was Leo closing the discussion. He pulled Leo's face down and kissed him hard anyway.

"Later," he growled at Leo, willing to let him drop it. For now.

Leo nodded, his eyes solemn as they stared back into his favorite turtle's eyes. He kissed his way down the side of Raph's face until he was once again pressed into that emerald neck. He closed his eyes and could feel himself sinking into sleep when there was a knock on their door.

"Dad," Akito called through the door. "Uncle Donnie's here. He says he needs to talk to you right away."

Raphael growled and his arms instinctively tightened around his tired mate.

"Its okay, Raph," Leo said, doing his best not to sound exhausted. He pushed himself up on his arms and leaned down to kiss Raphael one more time. "You go back to sleep, Takara. I'll be back soon."

Raphael watched Leo strap his katana on as he left their room before he rolled onto his plastron to appease his stomach. He hated feeling weak and sore, especially now when he could see Leo needed a break. He tried to ignore the feeling that he was failing to watch out for Leo and let himself fall back to sleep.

* * *

When Donnie pulled him out of the family lunch earlier, it was to tell him that Mona hadn't been in their rooms the night before when he'd arrived to take everyone home. So Casey had stayed behind to wait for her. His plan had been to head back to the competition this morning thinking that Mona would return there as well to regroup with them.

And Leo had to admit that he was relieved to see Casey's face on the other end of Donnie's interdimensional phone. He realized that he had been walking around with a strange feeling knowing that they had a clan member who was currently displaced.

"Hey, Leo," Casey said. "Need ya to come pick me up."

"You found Mona?"

"Yeah, I did."

Leo's eyes slid to Donnie and he wondered if Casey sounded strange to him or if it was just the sleep deprivation hitting him. He rubbed at his eyes.

"K, Casey. I'll see if Raph wants to make the jump with –,"

"No, dude, don't bring him," Casey quickly said. "Let the big baby rest, man."

"Yeah, fine," Leo said. "Donnie, can you land me outside the arena?"

"Definitely," Donnie said.

"Meet me outside, Casey," Leo said.

"You got it, Leo," Casey said before he ended the call.

"You look tired, Leo. Want me to go with you?" Donnie asked.

"No," Leo said. "With Raph down, I need you here."

Donnie nodded. "Well then I'll program this for your return trip as well. Just push this button," he said, handing the transporter over to Leo.

"Thanks, Donnie," Leo said.

"No problem."

"No, really, Donnie," Leo said. "Thank you."

Donnie grinned back at him. "Just hurry up and bring the loser home."

* * *

 **A/N** : Have you guys seen the ads for that new movie, Zootopia? It's a fox and a bunny (teamed up to fight crime?) And although the fox seems to always have a smirk and the bunny is not white, I can't help but picture Akito and Violet. Every time.


	25. Chapter 25

Leo panicked as soon as he felt himself wake. His head was not tucked into his emerald turtle but was instead resting on a pillow. He bolted upright and moved back until his shell hit the wall behind him.

"You slept there alone," Usagi said dryly, his hands raised in his own defense from where he sat across the unfamiliar bedroom.

Leo looked down at his wrists. He may have been placed in a comfortable bed, but one wrist was still chained to the headboard. The other wrist wore a metal bracelet that he immediately began trying to remove.

"You won't be able to remove that without the key," Usagi said. He watched Leonardo as he continued to struggle with the bracelet anyway. "I wanted a chance to speak with you without your clan interfering. So I had a friend of mine create that bracelet. It's an identity disruptor."

Leo froze his movements and slowly raised his eyes to Usagi.

Usagi watched Leo's face to see if he understood what that meant. He smiled when he realized Leo did, but went on to explain it anyway. He was quite proud of this idea after all. "I'm afraid Donatello's interdimensional search machine won't be able to find you as long as you're wearing that. It blocks your identity's personal signal."

Leo went cold. "Have we left your dimension?" he asked in a low voice.

Usagi smiled and nodded. "They're sure to start looking for you and Casey there first. And then who knows how long it will even take them to realize that you are not in that dimension before they go home and turn that machine on? Not that it will help. How long do you think they'll let the machine run before they give up?"

A chill ran down Leo's spine as he saw how pleased Usagi was with himself.

"Usagi," he said in a dark voice, "you need to take me home."

Usagi crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, but he didn't respond.

Leo glared back at him as he thought about what Usagi had said so far. "Is Casey here?"

Usagi shook his head. "I had no further need for him. And I'm sure they'll find him when they're looking for you," Usagi said, "so, no need to concern yourself with him further."

"Did you force him to call me?"

"He was kind enough to make that phone call for me."

"Why would he do that?" Leo asked, fearing he already knew the answer to that question as well.

"I may have had that small dark-haired woman that you added to your group hostage as an incentive."

"Do you still have her?"

"Not anymore," Usagi said. He stared back at Leo again, refusing to say more.

Leo did his best to keep his breathing under control. "Usagi, you have to take me home. This is ridiculous."

"Not ridiculous," Usagi said with a frown. "This took quite a lot of planning, aided by the fact that you walked right into my dimension-,"

"For reasons that have nothing to do with you or the resistance," Leo growled.

Usagi frowned again and tipped his head. "It is interesting to me that you know of my connection to the resistance group. Although, given your intelligence, I'm not really surprised that you made the connection." He let his eyes roam over the blue-eyed turtle. He wished now that he'd thought to have the blue mask removed when Leonardo had been brought in. It reminded Usagi too much of the Hamato clan and he decided that once Leonardo agreed to stay, he would persuade him to remove it and start fresh.

Leo glared back at the leering rabbit. Usagi didn't know that he knew about Usagi's connection to the resistance thanks to Suzu and he wasn't about to tell him that they'd found Suzu or that she'd told them quite a bit about Usagi's recent activities.

"How long have I been here?" Leo asked, deciding it would be best if he changed the subject.

"Your clan must have been running you ragged," Usagi said with a disapproving shake of his head. "You've been asleep since we picked you up _last_ night."

"I was tired because I was up all night after you had Raphael _poisoned_ ," Leo growled at him.

"It is important for you to know that we will not treat you as poorly as the Hamato clan has treated you. I will not let you be overworked. You will be well-fed and allowed to rest," Usagi said, ignoring the statement about Raphael. "Speaking of, it is time for dinner and you must be hungry. I will let the chef know you are awake and request your meal."

Leo jerked his chained wrist forward and shook the headboard in the process. "Usagi, stop!" he growled as Usagi stood and headed for the bedroom door. "You can't keep me here like this!"

Usagi paused by the door, immediately concerned that Leonardo was upset. "Do not worry, Leonardo. It will not always be like this. I'm sure after we talk, and you agree that staying here would be best for you, you'll be free to move about as you please."

"I will never agree to that," Leo growled.

Usagi smiled a sad smile in his direction, certain that Leonardo was just in a sad state of denial, before he turned and left the room.

Once alone, Leo allowed the ragged, panicked breaths to escape his lungs as he began to fight with the chain imprisoning him. His katana were gone, which was to be expected, but his belt had been removed as well, which meant he didn't currently have anything on him to help pick the lock.

He fought against the chain until he began to sweat and his wrist was bruised and swollen, all while replaying his last memories of the day before. He remembered trying to rest with Raphael – _Raphael was going to kill him for being turtlenapped again_ – before he received Casey's phone call. He had landed outside the arena to pick up Casey, who was nowhere in sight, and he'd been quickly surrounded by a wolf pack. He remembered fighting. But he had been severely outnumbered. And exhausted. And he had been no match for the taser they pulled.

He stopped struggling and let his shoulders droop as he glanced around the bedroom. The furniture was sparse. There were two windows, and even with the darkness, he could see that he was up on the second level of this building and there were only trees visible outside.

He pulled his shoulders back as he heard footsteps approach in the hallway and then glared at both Usagi and the wolf carrying his meal as they entered the room. The wolf set a plate of food down at the end of the bed as Usagi took his seat again.

Leo quickly snatched up the plate and flung it, hitting the retreating wolf squarely in the back of his head. The newly unconscious wolf slumped to the ground.

"Let me go," he growled at Usagi with a glare.

Usagi made a tsking noise, although it was aimed at the crumpled wolf. "He needs some work, huh? Not to have heard that plate coming?" He turned and eyed the food which was now spread across the room. "Is this your way of expressing that you are not currently hungry?"

"I'm not eating your food," Leo snarled at him.

"You know, Leonardo, the first time the resistance abducted you, I believe their mistake was in treating you like a prisoner. We are doing our best to make you comfortable."

"Let. Me. Go."

"I was thinking about what might make you more comfortable, and I realized that you really only need two things. Family and something to keep you occupied. And since I promised the resistance group that we would get Akito and Machi and their _special abilities_ on our side, having them join you here with me is really just a win win. We can even bring my ungrateful nieces and nephews into the group. _And_ , I'm fully willing to let you take over training the wolves. We can even turn them to the side of good if you'd like. As long as you're here, I really don't have a preference for what they do," he said dismissively.

"Why do you think I would agree to any of that?" Leo asked.

"Because I have paid very close attention to your history and I remember when _Karai_ , daughter of _Shredder_ , was determined to destroy you and your father. And yet, now she's considered a family member. And you have actually worked with her on a daily basis to train The Foot clan to do good deeds. _The Foot clan_ , Leonardo. If you'd like to put the Hamato name on the wolves, go for it. They're really rather stupid creatures and probably won't even realize that you've changed their names."

Leo stared hard at him and wondered how it was that he'd ever considered Usagi a good friend. Surely he wasn't always this callous. He watched Usagi's eyes travel over him again and ordered himself not to visibly shudder. He glared down at the bracelet on his wrist. It was such a small band of metal considering Usagi's claim that it would block Raphael's ability to find him this time.

The wolf on the floor, who Leo had already forgotten about, began to rouse and slowly lifted himself from the floor. He rubbed the back of his head and sent Leo a glare, which he quickly dropped when Usagi cleared his throat. The wolf left and pulled the door shut behind him.

"I want you to seriously consider my offer, Leonardo. I'd prefer that you agree to it willingly, without requiring me to employ threats."

"So you're going to threaten me?"

"I will not harm _you_ ," Usagi said.

Leo glared back at him as the implication that Usagi would threaten his family was clear.

"I'll let you have some time alone to think, plus I'm sure you could use more rest," Usagi said. "But I have brought you to this dimension for a reason. I already have a mission lined up for the two of us here."

He let his eyes roam over the turtle once more before he left the room.

* * *

"I'm gonna kill ya."

Casey was jerked out of his sleep as Raphael took only a moment to cut the ropes that had kept him tied to a chair before he heaved Casey up and slammed him into the closest wall.

"I'm sorry, man!" Casey yelped, flailing his arms out to the sides, "Usagi and those damn wolves had Mona!"

Casey looked behind Raph to Donnie and Mikey for support but both brothers only ducked their heads.

It had been Donnie's idea to check the rooms they'd stayed in during Machi's competition, but the discovery that he'd been correct about Casey's possible location was tampered by the fact that Leo was nowhere in sight. Not to mention the guilt he felt concerning Leo's disappearance. He knew he should've gone with Leo when he'd seen how tired his big brother had looked. Raphael had already ripped him a new one earlier for aiding Leo's jump to another dimension _by himself_ when he'd woken Raphael to alert him that Leo had been gone longer than expected.

"We could've gone together to get Mona back without you fucking _handing_ Leo right to them on a silver fucking platter," Raph roared at him.

"Where is Mona now?" Donnie ventured to ask.

"I don't know," Casey said. "I haven't been free to look for her," indicating the ropes that had now pooled on the floor around his chair.

"So they could still have her?" Donnie asked.

"They don't."

The four of them turned at the sound of Mona's voice as she entered the main room. She ducked her eyes as she felt them all glare at her. She was by now well aware of what had been happening. But she was also doing her best to fix it. She opened her mouth but was cut off when Raphael began growling again.

"Well thank _goodness_ you didn't hand Leo over for _nothin_ ," he said sarcastically.

"It wasn't my intention to hand Leo over," Casey growled back. He scowled at Raph even though he knew he shouldn't.

"I have something -," Mona tried to say.

"Yer gonna rip off my arm."

Raph let go of Casey and left Casey to rub at his sore shoulder as he stalked away to the other side of the room. He would find Leo and he would bring him home. That thought should calm him. But it didn't, because Leo had confessed to him that he did not feel strong around the rabbit. It tore at him to think that Leo was currently trapped with the one creature capable of actually unnerving his mate.

If given the chance, Raphael was going to rip that rabbit apart.

Mikey looked between Donnie, who was acting seriously guilty, and Raphael, who was currently panting in anger. "We don't know where to look for the wolves," he said slowly, doing his best to channel Leo and come up with their next step. "Do you think the bunnies or their mother would lead us to Usagi?"

"Here," Mona finally yelled to get their attention as she pulled Lenape into the room from the hallway. When she'd first separated from the Hamatos, she'd run right into Lenape. She could see a similarity to Leo, but this blue-eyed turtle's eyes were friendly instead of scary and she'd spent the rest of the night talking and laughing with him. As a human, it was clear she was connected to the Hamato clan, but she didn't realize Lenape's connection to the resistance group Casey had warned her about until the next morning when she'd been ripped from Lenape's room and held hostage to force Casey to do as the large white rabbit demanded.

Once Casey agreed to do as they asked, she'd been hidden away. Tied up in another room. But Lenape had found her and freed her. He'd apologized profusely and had offered to help the Hamatos.

"Tell them," she said to Lenape as everyone finally looked over at them.

Lenape took in the turtle brothers and felt the urge to pull into his shell as he caught the red-masked turtle glaring at him. Finally, he said, "Usagi has taken Leonardo to another dimension. I don't know which one. I just know that you're going to waste your time looking for him here. And Usagi is counting on that."

"We need to go home," Mikey said, looking to Donnie. "We'll turn the machine on -,"

"And I'm afraid you're not going to be able to track him this time," Lenape added quickly, trying to spare them before their combined hope could rise too quickly.

* * *

After a few hours, Leo's eyes had begrudgingly closed and he fell asleep against the wall while still upright.

His dreams brought him Raphael. Bright green eyes in the darkness. Strong emerald arms. Raph's fingers trailing over his skin.

His eyes shot open when he realized that _actual_ fingers were trailing over his arms. His entire body flinched and he immediately kicked the white rabbit hard enough to knock him immediately off the bed.

"Get the fuck away from me," Leo said with a loud growl as he felt his skin literally crawl.

Usagi frowned. Cursing did not suit Leonardo and was no doubt Raphael's influence.

"Leonardo," he replied calmly, picking himself up from the floor. "I told you I do not wish to treat you like a prisoner. But if you insist on attacking me, I will be forced to obtain more restraints for those impressively strong legs of yours."

Leo's loud ragged breaths were hurting his own ears as he glared at the white fur in the darkness. He immediately began struggling against his chained wrist once again.

Usagi sighed and left the room.

Leo continued to struggle with his wrist shackle but froze a moment later when a new noise caught his attention. His chest tightened as he immediately feared that it was Usagi returning with additional chains. But a repeat of the noise brought his attention to one of the windows and he held his breath as he watched it slowly slide open.

A large red fox quietly moved through the window and landed silently on the floor.

Leo didn't make a sound. He just watched as the stranger glanced around the darkened room until he was finally spotted.

"Want to get out of here?" the fox whispered to the turtle.


	26. Chapter 26

"How do we know we can even trust you?" Raph growled as he paced behind Donnie. "Haven't you been at the rabbit's beck and call for years now?"

"Raph, I really need you to stop with the -," Donnie made a walking motion with his fingers before turning back to his lab table to keep working on his notes. If what was best for Leo right now was for him to think clearly, he needed Raphael to stop pacing behind him.

"Yes," Lenape said slowly in response to Raphael. "But, I had a chance to speak to Leonardo during the competition, and he reminded me how hard it is not only to be away from my own clan, but to essentially be alone. Usagi has never really cared for me because of who I am. Only because of who I look like."

Raph stopped pacing. And while he continued to outwardly glare at the strange turtle, he knew Lenape was telling the truth. It would figure that given only two minutes, Leo would remind someone of how important it is to have meaningful relationships and _also_ turn them to the side of good. His throat closed as his thoughts returned to what Usagi and the wolf pack could be doing to his mate at that moment. He turned and stared at the dimension-searching machine. Donnie had it running despite what Lenape said, just in case, Don had said, the technology Usagi had created didn't actually work. But each minute that passed without the machine sounding the alarm felt like a century.

"And then I met Mona," Lenape continued, pausing another moment to smile tentatively at her, "and it was nice just to have someone to talk to again. Plus, I don't want to see anyone hurt. My clan is quite peaceful. I didn't agree with Usagi using Mona to bait in that other human."

Raph glared upward now as he pictured that other human. Casey had gone straight to his own apartment to be reunited with April and Shadow and hadn't reappeared yet.

"That's why I didn't agree to go with him when they left. Not that he minded since he had Leonard-," he cut himself off when Raph's face jerked back in his direction.

Sadie sent Donnie a sympathetic look from across the lab table. She knew Donatello's stress level was at its highest. Not only because Leo was missing, but because they both knew that there was almost no way for Donnie to create technology to counteract Usagi's technology if he didn't even know what Usagi's technology consisted of.

"What about trying to find Usagi's inventor friend?" Sadie asked Donnie quietly. "Maybe if we could get his blueprints, or maybe they could tell us if there's a way to turn _off_ the technology? Even from a distance?"

Mikey and Donnie both glanced at Lenape who shrugged helplessly. He'd never met this inventor. He'd only joined Usagi on a daily basis a few weeks ago.

Donnie bent back down over his notes. There was no way he was going to tell Raph how hopeless this was. He was just going to have to keep trying to come up with something.

Raph almost began pacing again but stopped himself before it distracted Donnie. But he couldn't stay in this crowded lab any longer. Without a word to anyone, he headed towards the stairs and went immediately up to his and Leo's apartment.

He found Master Splinter and Suzu sitting in the main room. He shook his head at his father to let him know he didn't have any new information before he began pacing back and forth in front of them.

"Usagi took him," Raph finally said to them. "I'm gonna kill him, Master Splinter."

"Raphael," Master Splinter said.

"No," Raph growled. "I'm gonna actually kill him."

"It must have been very difficult for Usagi to watch the one he thought he loved always be in love with someone else, Raphael," Master Splinter said. "And it has always been extremely obvious just how much Leonardo loves you."

Raph stopped pacing but turned his shell to his father so that Master Splinter could not see his face as he thought of his blue-eyed turtle and how desperately he wanted him back.

"So think how hard it must be to suffer from unrequited love. To want someone who has never been available. Someone who would never consider returning those feelings."

"Are ya pitying the rabbit?" Raph asked, doing his best not to growl at his own father, especially with Suzu sitting quietly beside him.

"I suppose in a way I am."

"So ya think I shouldn't hurt him?"

"No, I think you should destroy him," Master Splinter said, plainly. "But it's always best to fully understand your enemy."

* * *

The fox had brought a tool which quickly cut Leo's chain, although the shackle remained around his wrist. But he was free to cross the bedroom, move quietly through the window and scale down the side of the house behind his rescuer.

The fox took off in a sprint into the woods the moment he landed back on the ground and Leo moved quickly to keep up. He wasn't sure how smart it was to follow a complete stranger, but this fox certainly wasn't slowing to make sure Leo was keeping up with him. So Leo followed him. Anything was better than being chained to a bed with Usagi's threatening presence nearby.

They ran for nearly an hour, without speaking, until the fox finally slowed as the forest thinned and they came upon a rock wall.

The fox turned to Leo. "Can you climb?" he asked.

Leo nodded and watched as the fox began to scale the rock ledge. There was very little to use for leverage, and the fox had the advantage with his smaller fingers, but Leo managed and soon they reached the top, where Leo was surprised to find another fox waiting for them.

"Anything?" his rescuer asked.

"Nothing," the second fox said. "I can see pretty far out from here. It doesn't look like you were followed." He turned to Leo. "Here," he said, and offered him a bottle. "Fresh water."

Leo thanked him and took the bottle, although both foxes noted that he didn't immediately take a drink.

"Did you tell him yet?"

"No," rescue fox said, "just got us out of there before Usagi had a chance to return."

"The water is safe, Leonardo," the second fox said, as he watched Leo eye the bottle.

"How do you know my name?"

"Because you were able to do something that we could not."

"What?" Leo asked, completely confused.

"Please, sit. Rest."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? Who you are?" Leo asked.

The two foxes nodded and Leo took a seat exactly where he'd been standing.

His rescuer sat as well, leaving the second fox to continue standing where he could easily watch over the forest for movement.

"My name is Isamu," rescue fox said. "And this is my big brother, Masaru. We had two other brothers as well. There was Jiro, who we separated from many years ago when he became power hungry and began talking about harming our eldest brother."

"Akio," Leo said, leaning back on his hands as he realized that he was sitting with Akito and Machi's missing uncles.

Masaru moved his eyes away from the forest to tip his head at the turtle. But he did not ask how he happened to know their brother's name.

"Aren't you two with the resistance?" Leo asked.

"Not since Jiro killed Akio and Tomoko," Masaru said. "We tried to turn him in and get custody of Akio's kids. But he came after us and our own families. So we fled."

"We got our families to safety, but then we went back, intent on collecting Akito and Machi," Isamu said. "But by the time we returned, Jiro was dead."

"And Akito and Machi were in the middle of an adoption process with an impressive pair of ninja turtles," Masaru said, tipping his head at Leo again.

Leo stiffened. "Look, if rescuing me from Usagi was your own way to get your hands on Akito and -,"

"No," Masaru said sharply. "We are not after the children. At the time of the adoption, we did not contest it because we were still in danger from the resistance group. We thought the kids would be safer with a neutral third party."

"And they are, right? They're safe?" Isamu asked.

"Yes," Leo said, plainly.

The two fox brothers shared a glance that Leo only recognized as being a quick, albeit silent, conversation from sharing similar glances with his own brothers.

"Seems we were correct, then."

"Wait," Leo said, standing quickly. "You're not from here. How did you get here? Do you have a transporter?"

"No," Masaru said. "We were transported here almost ten years ago by our home government. Sort of a witness protection program."

Leo slowly sat back down and did his best not to let his severe disappointment show on his face. He cleared his throat. "So, you left the resistance and came here."

"Yes, although Usagi seems to think we're a threat to his leadership," Masaru said.

"He first arrived a few months ago with a band of young bunnies. Ordered them to kill us," Isamu said.

"What?" Leo said, and he could see the surprise on the fox brothers' faces when he was immediately back on his feet. "He did _what_ with them?"

"Told them to kill us," Isamu repeated. "Not sure they've ever been told to do that before, either, because they certainly didn't look like they knew what to do."

Leo froze for a moment as he thought about Usagi's tirade when the bunnies had failed their secret mission. He suddenly understood why the bunnies had been so upset. Why their mother had described them as moping.

"Those bunnies are my students. They have never been ordered to kill someone before. That's not what their training is about," Leo finally said slowly.

"So those bunnies know Akito and Machi as well?"

Leo nodded.

Masaru looked to Isamu again. "One of those little bunnies said we looked like Akito, as if she was protesting to Usagi about why she could not kill us. It had us worried, actually, because we did not know how they could know our nephew. So we thought maybe Usagi was after him."

"So we found Usagi's hideout here," Isamu added. "And we've been watching it in case Usagi showed up with Akito or Machi. And when we saw that he had a turtle, we knew it was you."

"He's trying to use you to get the kids here, isn't he? Those damn wolves still think they need the kids? Still think they have a shot at overthrowing the government?"

"That's part of it, yes," Leo said. He left it at that. He was too tired to go into the rest of Usagi's insane requests. "Thank you for getting me out of there."

Masaru shrugged. "Don't thank us. You kept Akito and Machi safe for our eldest brother. We can't ever repay that."

"And we're going to help you get home," Isamu said.

"Do you have something that can get this off my wrist?" Leo asked, holding his wrist up so they could see the metal bracelet. "My family has a machine that can search for me in other dimensions. But Usagi had this created for me and says it's blocking the machine's ability to see me."

Masaru moved closer and examined the bracelet while Isamu dug around in one of their bags. They pulled a few tools and weapons out, although each one became a bigger failure than the one before it.

"Do they know Usagi has you? Could they just search for him?" Masaru asked when it became clear the bracelet was not coming off.

"The machine only looks for me. For my personal signature."

"You end up in other dimensions often?" Masaru asked with another head tilt.

Leo sighed. "Yes."

"Usagi," Masaru said.

"Yes, Usagi must have transporters with him," Isamu said.

"No, Usagi," Masaru repeated, pointing out towards the woods where he could see movement. He turned and eyed the bracelet on Leo's wrist.

Leo straightened as he met Masaru's gaze. "You think this thing is working as a tracker?"

Masaru nodded.

"Do you have extra weapons?"

"We can do better than that," Isamu said. He stood and walked to another set of bags that he'd been using to hide some of their belongings. He lifted Leo's swords and watched as the turtle's face lit up upon seeing them. "You were still asleep and heavily guarded when I first stopped by Usagi's hideout this morning. But I did manage to pull these."

Leo gratefully took the katana pair from the fox as he felt his first moment of peace just by wrapping his hands around the familiar, heavy steel. "Do you two know how to fight?"

"Yes," Masaru said.

"We're rusty," Isamu said with a grin, "but you forget we were raised in the resistance. They teach us how to fight before they teach us how to read."

* * *

 **A/N** : You guys have been really spoiling me with the reviews. Seriously. And once again, your reviews have influenced the story by asking questions about something that I haven't made obvious in the past (I'm looking at you right now yukio87 and Wolfie – thank you!) As a result, I edited the last chapter a little tiny bit and I added a little something to this one, which I think makes the story not only clearer but also more plausible. And thank you to everyone else who left reviews as well, because there were quite a few lines in there that made me laugh out loud. Or even blush a little bit because of the compliments. Thank you for loving these stories.


	27. Chapter 27

Usagi hesitated to move out of the wooded area and into the open, but the tracker told him Leonardo had left the forest, so he signaled to the wolves to keep going ahead of him.

They moved along the rock wall and he smiled as he heard Leonardo land almost silently behind him. He turned to face the turtle and was shocked to see him with his own swords already drawn.

"Impressive," Usagi said, holding up a hand to hold the wolves back. "Escaping and retrieving your weapons. How did you manage?"

"New friends," Leo answered as Masaru and Isamu landed behind Usagi. He noticed that Usagi couldn't hide the shock from his face when he saw the foxes.

"Leonardo," Usagi said, turning back to the turtle, a new urgency in his voice. "Don't you realize who they are? They will take Akito and Machi away. They will take the wolf pack. Destroying them was to be our first mission together. Fight _with_ me."

"No," Leo said, darkly. "They've never gone after Akito and Machi. They don't want the wolves. And they freed me from _you_. Now, I suggest you pull your weapons, unless you're willing to concede defeat."

Usagi tipped his head. "And what is it you'd want if I did that?"

"A transporter," Leo growled.

Usagi let his eyes trail over Leonardo once again before he pulled his own two swords. He'd never willingly give Leonardo up. Not when he'd come so close to having him to himself.

"Fine," Leo said, shifting his feet, preparing to fight. "But when this is over, I am going home."

"Attack!" Usagi ordered, releasing the dim-witted wolves to quickly charge forward. He knew they were eager to attack the fox pair who had abandoned them in the past. He didn't spare a glance to see how the wolves fared however, as he began to circle the turtle he'd been obsessed with for so many years.

Usagi was so busy staring at Leonardo's fierce blue-eyed glare that he almost missed Leonardo's first downward strike towards him. His own reaction was delayed but he managed to block the blade with his own. He jumped back as the next strike came. It had been quite a long time since he'd sparred with Leonardo and he'd almost forgotten how impossibly fast the turtle could move.

Leo feigned to one side and when Usagi followed to block, Leo spun and swung to the other side of the rabbit instead, earning a solid strike in the rabbit's side, evident by the red that began staining the white fur.

"Leonardo," Usagi managed, ignoring the pain in his side, "don't you see what an impressive team we would make?"

Leo didn't respond. Instead, he kept his own current team, the two fox brothers, in his vision as well as they went up against the pack of wolves. His eyes narrowed as he realized another wolf was attempting to sneak up behind Masaru. Leo raised a sword to one of Usagi's in order to shove his weight forward and knock Usagi backwards. With Usagi off balance, he quickly back flipped and cut down the new wolf before he could attack Masaru.

Leo heard Isamu call out his name in warning and Leo's right arm reflexively swung behind his head. His blade caught Usagi's sword before it could slice into his shoulder from behind. And although the block protected his shoulder from major injury, it led to his arm being trapped behind him as Usagi slammed one of his large rabbit feet into Leo's shell, pinning Leo's face and plastron against the stone wall. Leo struggled until he felt Usagi's second sword at his neck. He froze as he felt Usagi's breath on the back of his neck as his mind flew back to the last time he'd been trapped against a wall by the rabbit.

"If I cut you, Leonardo," Usagi said in a low voice, "you'd be left with a mark from me." He let the blunt end of the blade slide down Leo's neck without injury. "You would like that, wouldn't you?"

Raphael's face appeared in Leo's mind and he forced down the vulnerability creeping up his shell and released a loud growl in response to Usagi's threat to mark him.

"Battle scars are not the same thing," Leo growled out.

"And I'm about to give ya plenty of those," a brand new voice growled out mere seconds before Usagi was forced to release his hold over Leo as he yowled out in pain.

Leo turned as soon as he was free and his eyes gratefully met Raphael's green eyes. Raph let his eyes roam over Leo quickly to make sure his mate was uninjured before he surged forward to attack the rabbit. Leo staggered back a step, eyes wide at the image of Usagi pinned to the stone wall by a sais to a long rabbit ear.

Usagi had suffered many injuries over the years, but he'd never had his ears targeted before. All thoughts left him and he barely even registered that Raphael had appeared and was ferociously attacking him as his only focus became the fiery pain caused by a sais through an ear. And when Raphael yanked his shoulders forward so that the turtle could crash a knee into his face, he welcomed the darkness as he felt his ear tear in two, leaving a small piece of it pinned into the stone as the rest of him slumped down to the ground.

Raph glared down at the unconscious rabbit for only a moment before he turned to Leo. He was beyond relieved to see him, but he was also still furious with him for leaving to pick up Casey alone. He was about to tell Leo exactly how much trouble he was in when the words died in his mouth as he caught the emotions running across Leo's face.

Leo slowly sheathed his katana while he stared down at his former captor. He could feel the adrenaline run down his arms, causing his hands to shake. He'd been betrayed. Again. Taken from his family. Chained. Touched. Threatened.

And afraid. He'd been _afraid_.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by strong emerald hands lifting his face up and away from Usagi to meet Raph's concerned green eyes.

"Yer okay, Leonardo," Raph said to him, feeling a sudden desperate need to reassure Leo that that was the truth.

Leo stared back at him. He didn't say anything in return, but shifted his face to rub his cheek against one of Raph's warm palms before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. And then Raphael was kissing him and Leo reached up to grab at any solid part of Raphael that he could get his hands on. Leo's shaking fingers did not go unnoticed by Raphael as they landed on his shoulders. His own fingers tightened slightly on Leo's face in an effort to comfort as their lips moved together.

Raph pulled away when he heard Suzu's voice as she loudly began to issue orders to the government officers they'd brought with them to round up the defeated wolf pack. Raph looked back to Leo and saw that Leo barely noticed his large rescue party. He realized that Leo was also not asking questions about how they'd found him. In fact, Leo wasn't saying anything at all. He frowned as he watched Leo's eyes move back down to the rabbit, as if to assure himself that he still hadn't moved from the ground.

Donnie and Mikey, who'd joined in the fight against the wolves when they'd first arrived, quickly joined them, which seemed to distract Leo because he pulled them both into a wordless hug. When they were released, Donnie grabbed Leo's wrist, which normally wouldn't have bothered their brother, but Raph watched as Leo flinched in response.

Donnie sent Leo an apologetic look when he realized he'd startled him, something he wasn't sure he'd ever done before, but kept hold of Leo's wrist to examine the device he was wearing.

Raphael frowned and pulled Leo's wrist away from Donnie. Before Donnie could protest, he slid a sais along Leo's arm and with one strong jerk of his wrist, cracked the metal bracelet into two pieces and let it fall to the ground.

"Raph, I think we could've gotten it off without breaking it," Donnie muttered as he scooped up the broken device pieces.

"It don't belong on him," Raph muttered back. "I'm sure ya can still study it in two pieces." He rested a hand on Leo's shoulder and squeezed as he watched Leo absentmindedly rub at the wrist that had worn the bracelet. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the shackle, meaning Leo had been chained at one point, hanging around Leo's other wrist. He slid his hand down Leo's arm to that wrist and repeated the movement with his sais, freeing Leo of yet another metal ring. He raised his eyes triumphantly to Leo, but he found that Leo's blue eyes were staring down at Usagi again.

Raph caught Suzu's attention and signaled to her that they were going to leave, for which he received a nod back in acknowledgement.

"Let's go, Don," Raph said.

Suzu watched the turtle brothers disappear as she continued to oversee her team of officers. Her eyes narrowed in on the two foxes who'd been fighting the wolves when they arrived. It'd been years since she'd seen them. They'd grown up as enemies, although they'd done their best to be civil for one day in order to watch Akio and Tomoko get married. But when their brother and her sister had been killed, Masaru and Isamu had come to her looking for a truce. They wanted away from Jiro, out of the resistance, and their families moved somewhere safe. So Suzu, and her former partner, Usagi, had moved them to this dimension.

And earlier that night, when Usagi's niece, Violet, overheard Raphael say that Usagi had taken Leonardo to another dimension, she had come forward and told everyone about the secret mission her Uncle Usagi had taken her and her siblings on to kill the fox brothers. Her main point in sharing being that she knew Usagi had a hideout here and she thought it might be a good place to look for Leonardo.

Suzu and the Hamato brothers had immediately traveled to her home dimension in order to obtain the coordinates for the dimension where she'd transplanted these fox brothers all those years ago and to pick up a slew of agents to help them collect the resistance members when they got here.

And now she found herself actually smiling when she reached the brothers. "You guys okay?"

"Aside from you interrupting a good fight?" Isamu asked with a return grin.

"We're good," Masaru said with an appreciative nod. "And yourself?"

"Ready to retire now that I've finally wrangled up the last of the resistance," Suzu said, realizing the words were true only as she said them. "You know, with Jiro and now the resistance gone, you could return to our home dimension. If you wanted."

Masaru exchanged a look with his brother. "We kind of like it here," he said. "Kids like it here too."

Suzu nodded. She paused for a moment and then said, "I was able to spend some time with Akito and Machi." She watched Masaru and Isamu perk up a little.

"We didn't get to ask Leonardo many questions about them," Masaru said.

"Well, they're well," she said, "and well-loved, not only by Leonardo and Raphael, but also by more aunts and uncles than I could count."

Isamu chuckled.

"They should be safe from now on," Masaru said. "The family legacy of corruption and revenge is finally over."

"That wasn't their family legacy," Suzu said, smirking at them.

"Maybe not on _your_ side of the family," Isamu said.

* * *

 **A/N** : Want to see something amazing? I LOVE this (remove the 5 * from the link) - selene467.*deviantart* art*/Battle-Scar-Promise-Series-*615146974*


	28. Chapter 28

When they landed on their own rooftop, Leo's only reaction was to blink his eyes a few times as he looked around. He was led inside by his brothers. He was welcomed by most of the clan in the main room of his home. He hugged his children tightly. Then he excused himself from the crowd and disappeared into his bedroom.

Raph had watched him go while he stood brewing tea in the kitchen. A few moments later, Master Splinter joined him, although he declined a mug.

"Michelangelo and Woody have suggested that Akito, Violet and Machi head to their apartment for the night. I believe they are offering a movie marathon."

"Probably a good idea," Raph replied as he waved off Donnie, Sadie and Gabe. Miwa and Sam had just left as well. And Donnie had said he'd sent April a text when they first arrived home, but Raph hadn't seen any members of the Jones family that night.

"Do you think this takes care of the resistance? The threat against Akito and Machi?" Master Splinter asked.

"Suzu and her agents seemed to think they were roundin up the entire group with this trip, so I would say yes."

"I am glad to see that Violet's theory was correct. Did you happen to meet these fox uncles?

Raph shook his head. "They were fightin against the wolves, though, when we got there. Mike and Don joined them. I'm not sure if they spoke to them after or not. We left pretty quickly once we had Leo."

Raph stared down at Leo's tea, feeling a little strange since running through mission reviews with their father was Leo's domain. But Master Splinter was asking him, so obviously their father had seen how rattled Leo appeared to be. And he supposed that if he went over this with their father now, Leo wouldn't have to do it later.

"And Usagi?"

"He's still alive," Raph said, still not sure if he regretted that decision or not. Killing someone who was already unconscious from the beating he'd just delivered wasn't part of his training. But he'd been pretty tempted. "Although he's missin part of an ear now, and Suzu promised to haul his ass to jail. They've got enough on him already that they're not gonna need Leo to testify or anything."

"Will Suzu be returning? Perhaps to continue training with Akito and Machi?"

"Yeah, she's gonna - ," he stopped and looked at his father. "Wait, any particular reason yer interested in her comin back to visit?"

"I have a guest bedroom and you do not. I was just curious to see if I needed to ready it."

"Is guest bedroom code for something?"

His father glared at him but Raphael could only grin at his father's suddenly retreating back as he turned to leave the apartment. Master Splinter stopped by the main exit, though, and looked towards Raphael and Leonardo's closed bedroom door. He wiped the smile off his own face before turning back to Raphael.

"Thank you for bringing him home. Although, I do fear you have your work cut out for you."

"I'll take care of him," Raph said solemnly.

"Yes," Splinter said. "I can always count on you to do so."

Raph felt himself warm at his father's praise as he watched him leave. Then he picked up Leo's mug and headed into their bedroom. He set the mug down on Leo's bedside table as Leo walked out of their bathroom with steam from his shower following him.

Leo climbed into bed and pressed his shell back against the headboard as he wrapped his fingers around the steaming mug. "Thank you," he said.

Raphael climbed into the bed and sat next to this calm and polite Leo. The calm and polite Leo who still wasn't making eye contact with him.

"Kids are stayin at Mike and Woody's tonight."

"Okay," Leo said quietly in response. "How are you feeling by the way? How's your stomach?"

"Fine," Raph answered.

"It's not fair," Leo muttered. "He tried to kill you and then you don't even get a chance to fully recover before you're chasing after me again."

"I'm fine, Leo," Raph said. He rested a hand on the top of Leo's thigh and was pleased when Leo didn't flinch or tense beneath his fingers.

Leo glanced down at his chafed wrist. It had stung in the shower. As if he'd needed the reminder of being chained. He shook his head and pushed the thought away as he settled his shell deeper into his own safe bed and focused on the warmth spreading through him from having just one of Raph's hands on his leg.

Raph watched Leo quietly drink his tea for a few moments before saying, "Tell me what happened."

Leo took another drink of his tea. It was perfectly brewed, as it always was by Raphael. Just another way that his mate consistently took care of him. And he was sure Raph was currently gearing up to try to help him through this most recent experience as well. But he wondered if it was fair to Raph to have to repeatedly help him recover. He was pretty sure Raphael deserved a break. And maybe if they could just go to sleep, he'd feel better in the morning, which would be better for Raphael as well.

He put his mug down and turned to Raph, looking at him for the first time since he'd come into their room. "Are Casey and Mona back?" He hadn't seen either of them out in the main room when they first arrived.

It wasn't what Raphael was expecting, but he also wasn't surprised that Leo would think about the welfare of the humans used to bait him into the trap. He nodded.

"I'm sorry I went by myself to pick them up," Leo said. "I know you're mad at me for that. I was tired and not thinking straight and it was a huge mistake."

Raphael nodded again. "I wasn't mad. I was fuckin furious."

"I am sorry, Raph. I'm sorry you had to worry and search for me again. This was all my fault."

Raphael pulled him close and nuzzled his face against Leo's. "Ya shouldn't have gone alone. But being turtlenapped is never yer _fault_. Its not yer fault the rabbit's crazy."

Leo turned his face into Raph's and met his eyes again. Raph wasn't one to give long lectures and Leo could read most of what Raph wanted to say in his eyes, anyway. He watched as Raph's eyes softened as he said, "But I was only mad because nothin is more important to me than you."

Leo felt some of his stress leave with Raphael's easy forgiveness. Raph opened his mouth to say something else but Leo quickly covered it with his own mouth. His tongue slid into Raph's mouth as he began to pull at Raph's shoulders until Raph slid down on his shell. Leo slid his own body down as well and pressed kisses to the side of Raph's face until he could easily press his face into Raph's neck. He was releasing a contented sigh at the same moment that he felt Raph tense as he realized that Leo had just tucked them both into their typical sleeping positions.

"Leo," he said with a half-hearted growl.

But Leo shook his head and pushed his face further into Raph's neck. The arm he'd wrapped around Raph's plastron squeezed tighter.

Raph resigned himself to sleep. For now. He listened as Leo's breathing told him exactly when his mate fell asleep. He was asleep soon after, far more tired than he would've admitted. His body relaxed as he slept and the fingers he had wrapped tightly around Leo's arm slowly loosened their grip.

However, halfway through the night, Leo shifted in his sleep and Raphael's fingers reflexively began rubbing a soothing pattern over Leo's arm. To which Leo's immediate response was to jerk awake, shove Raph's hand away and frantically move himself away from Raphael and up into a seated position.

Raphael sat up just as quickly. Leo's eyes were wide and his breathing was fast. Raph knew he was taking a chance of making this worse by touching Leo right now, but he surged forward anyway and did the one thing that had always made Leo feel safer than anything else. He pushed Leo back on his shell and climbed on top of him, letting his weight press Leo into their mattress.

"It's me. It's me, babe," he whispered. "Look at me. Leo, look."

Leo stilled and met Raph's eyes as he felt Raph's solid weight holding him in place. Someone else may have felt trapped under the bulky turtle, but Leo had always felt secure and grounded. It was part of Raphael's unique ability to pull him out of his own head.

Raph's green eyes locked onto Leo's blue ones and he quickly replayed Leo's actions in his head.

"He touched you?" he asked, trying to keep his growl low for his already startled mate.

"Just my arm," Leo said quickly, "when I was asleep." Although he knew words almost weren't necessary because his unconscious actions had already spoken volumes to Raphael.

"Don't say _just_ ," Raph said. "Anything anywhere would be too much." He leaned down and nuzzled Leo's face as he felt Leo nod. "Tell me, Leo. Tell me what happened while you were gone. Let me carry it with ya." He let more of his weight drop onto Leo's plastron as his hands moved to slide up and down Leo's arms.

Leo took a few deep breaths in as he felt Raph's warm hands move over his skin. He never wanted to unconsciously flinch under Raphael's hands again, so he began speaking. He told Raph how he'd been immediately surrounded by wolves when he landed in the other dimension. And how he thought he'd been doing pretty well, despite his exhaustion, when one of the wolves had pulled a taser.

"Fuckin dirty move."

Leo actually gave a half shrug. "I guess when your main goal is to abduct someone, you're not really in it for the honor of the fight."

Raphael smirked at him, secretly pleased to see a little Fearless humor. However, he dropped the smirk when he heard what Leo said next.

"I woke up with my wrist chained to a bed in Usagi's hideout."

"A bed?" Raph growled.

"Usagi was there," Leo continued, "in a chair," he quickly clarified. "And he was so calm when he spoke that it made everything he said worse."

"What'd he say?"

"That I should agree to stay with him willingly," Leo said, frowning. "That Akito and Machi would join us. That he'd let me train the wolves any way I wanted. But he also told what the bracelet on my wrist was for. One little piece of metal that was going to keep me separated from you."

"Found ya anyway," Raph whispered. He still hadn't had a chance to tell Leo how they had managed to find him. But he'd save it for later. For now, he shifted himself slightly and pushed Leo's head to the side with his nose so he could let his tongue slide up Leo's neck. "Keep goin."

"Usagi left the room. And I fell asleep. But I woke up when he started touching me and kicked him off the bed. He left again but threatened to get restraints for my legs."

Raphael growled as Leo spoke. And then he watched as Leo seemed to hesitate. He shifted himself again and moved his mouth away from Leo's neck in order to begin tracing his tongue over his mark on Leo's arm.

"Mine," he said with a low growl that sent a shiver up Leo's spine.

"Yours," Leo whispered back and wrapped his hands around Raph's shoulders before letting them trail down Raph's arms.

"What are ya thinkin?" Raph asked, thinking about Leo's earlier hesitation.

Leo paused for only another moment. "I was afraid," he whispered out. It was something he'd admit only to Raphael. "Knowing I was untraceable in another dimension and about to be further restrained by the one creature who -,"

Leo stopped and Raph didn't need him to continue to know what Leo was thinking.

"It felt worse than facing Shredder," Leo finally said. "Or a legion of Kraang. Or -,"

"Because this was personal," Raphael replied before he covered Leo's mouth and twisted their tongues together. He pulled away and waited for Leo to open his eyes and look at him. "And because it _was_ scary, Leo."

Leo nodded, grateful for Raphael's understanding.

Raph sat up so that he was straddling Leo's lap and Leo felt the loss of his weight and warmth. But he didn't stay cold long as he felt Raph's fingers slide down his plastron.

"Yer safe with me, Leo."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away earlier, Raph," Leo said. "I know I'm safe with you."

Raph nodded. "I'm gonna remind ya anyway." He leaned over Leo and whispered to him, "By touchin ya. A lot." One hand trailed down the side of Leo's face and neck before trailing across his collarbone. "Okay?"

Leo arched his body up towards Raphael and pulled Raph's mouth back down for another kiss in response. Raphael released a loud churr as he felt Leo's body rub against him.

"Aishiteru, Leonardo," he murmured as he let his fingers trail over every part of Leo that he could reach. He listened to the gasps and soft churrs he pulled from Leo as he touched and massaged over Leo's arms and sides. He moved himself down Leo's body when his current position proved too difficult to allow his fingers to reach Leo's tail and the leg muscles he liked so much.

Leo's eyes darkened as his favorite turtle moved his fingers and then his tongue over his skin. He watched as Raph teased by kissing and licking along the crease at the top of his legs but purposefully avoided the growing bulge in his lower plastron.

Raph grinned to himself as he listened to Leo's panting breaths. "Ya want me to keep touchin ya?" he asked.

"Depends on where you're planning to touch next," Leo said and boldly grabbed one of Raph's hands and moved it towards his entrance.

"I can do that," Raph said, immediately harder than he'd been a moment before thanks to Leo's request. He wet a finger and immediately began pressing it into Leonardo before he finally trailed his tongue over Leo's slit in encouragement, not that Leo needed much more encouragement, to drop down for him.

Leo churred loudly at the different sensations as he was pulled into Raphael's mouth. He moaned out Raphael's name and couldn't take his eyes off the emerald turtle who was expertly spreading a tingling warmth across his entire body. He writhed beneath Raphael and waited through the preparation process before he began pulling on Raph's shoulders. He wanted more contact with Raph's body. He wanted him pressing him into their mattress with his strength.

Raph did as Leo wanted and moved his way up Leo's body. He felt Leo's strong legs wrap tightly around his waist as he pressed his way into Leo's body with a deep moan. He breathed in Leo's scent and moved his tongue over Leo's neck as he moved his hips, thrusting into Leo, aiming for the spot that would make Leo throw his head back and churr and completely come unglued. Completely forget about what he'd been through. He grinned when he found it and reveled in the look of peace he could see on Leo's face once their combined convulsions eventually stopped.

"You ever get tired of sorting me out, Raphie?" Leo panted after a few moments.

"That sounds like yer asking if I ever get tired of you. And I could never get tired of you," Raph panted back. He didn't budge from his position on top of Leo. He wasn't sure he was going to for the rest of that night. "Besides, all those bastards are goin to prison." He didn't want to mention the rabbit directly, but continued. "And we're never gonna see any of them again. Our kids aren't in danger anymore. That other dimension will have peace. Its over. So sortin ya out in the future is gonna involve things like getting ya to watch sports with me. Not rescuin ya from other dimensions."

Leo actually huffed out a laugh. "I love you, Raphael."

Raph smiled and licked his way up Leo's neck in response and Leo chuckled again.

Leo let his fingers trail over Raphael's muscular arms. "I got to actually talk to Akito and Machi's uncles. They're the ones who got me out of that house. They told me their side of the story in dealing with their evil brother. I – I didn't actually get to say goodbye to them before we left, did I?"

"No, I think ya were in shock," Raph said. "But if ya think they're _good_ , then maybe we can arrange a little family reunion. But only if its here in our dimension."

"Deal," Leo murmured as he felt his eyelids grow heavy.

"Hey, Fearless," Raph whispered, nudging Leo's shoulder.

Leo hummed in response.

"I think Master Splinter has a thing for Suzu."

"Is that code for something?"

Raphael chuckled.


	29. Chapter 29

Trying to sneak around using ninja stealth skills didn't mean much when your entire family was full of stealthy ninjas. So Akito waited and hoped that his uncles were asleep before he crept towards the spare bedroom Violet was staying in. Once their movie marathon had ended with Uncle Mikey and Uncle Woody, Violet had been assigned one spare room and Machi the other. Leaving Akito out on the couch, which was a little strange since had had a perfectly good bed just one apartment away. But he wasn't complaining. He liked being near Violet and understood that his fathers needed some alone time that night.

He poked his head into her temporary room and watched as she shifted under the blankets as he crept in and silently closed the door behind him.

"Vi?" he whispered as he got closer.

She responded by grabbing his wrist and pulling him onto the bed. He laughed quietly as he rolled to the side and pulled her on top of his chest. She planted her hands together on his chest and looked down at him with a smile. She was slightly surprised to have him sneak in to see her, since he usually followed all the rules all the time, but she wasn't about to complain and even scooted herself forward so she could plant a kiss on his cute face.

Akito tried to ignore the squirming sensation in his stomach that she managed to rouse in him just by barely moving her body over his in order to kiss him. He rather wished he could focus on it, but he was pretty sure if they were caught making out in his uncles' apartment, she'd never be allowed to stay overnight with them ever again.

Violet scooted herself back down after the kiss and let her chin rest on her hands over his chest. "What's up?" she whispered. With some guidance from his aunt on his new ability and the return of Master Leonardo, Akito had been in a great mood all night. So she wasn't sure what could be bothering him enough to sneak in to talk to her privately.

"I just wanted to say thank you," he whispered. "You're the reason they were able to track down my dad and bring him home, Vi."

Violet smiled at him as her ears perked up. "I'm just glad I could help. You know that Master Leonardo means a great deal to me and my siblings as well."

"Yeah, but you also had to go against your own family to help mine. You had to reveal a secret that you'd been ordered by your uncle to keep. And that couldn't have been easy."

Violet's ears flattened as she thought of her Uncle Usagi. "Unfortunately, it was very easy," she whispered back. "I'm afraid we lost our respect for him after he ordered us to kill two innocent foxes. Two innocent foxes who looked exactly like _you_. And he was so angry with us after we refused."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you during all that," Akito said, rubbing a thumb across one of her cheeks.

"There's no way you could've been, though, Akito," Violet said. She shifted herself again and rubbed her nose against the end of his. "Besides, you and Master Leonardo and the rest of your clan have always felt like family to me. There's no way I wasn't going to help."

Akito smiled at her again but couldn't ignore her shifting body. He moved his hands to her shoulders to keep her body still over his own. Violet did her best to suppress a giggle when she realized what he was doing. He glared at her when she shifted again on purpose and she only giggled again before relaxing against him in a silent promise to stop teasing him.

"Let's just promise not to keep any more secrets from each other," he whispered.

Violet nodded and kissed him again. "I love you, Akito."

"Love you too, Vi."

* * *

"What are we doing today?" Akito asked cheerfully as he entered their own apartment with Violet and Machi after finishing a rather extravagant breakfast at their uncles' place.

"This," Leo said from his current position on the couch where he sat slumped into Raphael's side. One of Raph's arms was looped around his shell and Raph had been drawing patterns over his plastron with his fingers for the last hour.

"Great," Akito said cheerfully as he plopped down on the floor in front of them, leaving his chair open for Violet as Machi tucked herself into Leo's other side when he opened an inviting arm to her.

Leo raised an amused eye ridge at their extremely cheerful son but didn't comment. He'd missed happy, carefree Akito and wasn't in the mood to overanalyze every aspect of what had finally led to the return of their smiling son.

"Violet, I owe you a huge thank you," Leo said to his bunny student once she was seated. Raphael had filled him in that morning on how they were able to find him without the use of Donnie's machine. "You're the main reason I'm sitting here right now. Thank you for stepping forward and telling the others what you knew about your uncle's hideout."

"You're very welcome," Violet said sincerely before she smiled down at Akito as she thought of their conversation from the night before.

"And I'm sorry that your uncle placed you and your siblings in such an uncomfortable situation with those foxes. We'll talk more about it as a group the next time you're all here for training."

"Thank you, Master Leonardo. I think that would help," she responded.

"Hey guys," Donnie said, entering the apartment with Gabe right behind him.

"We brought you your new T-phone, Uncle Weo!" Gabe said, excitedly as he proudly handed the green phone up to his uncle.

"Thanks, Gabriel," Leo said. He briefly thought of his belt and old T-phone which had been left behind in the other dimension as he took the new phone from the little turtle.

"I transferred all your files and contacts from our system, but let me know if you think anything is missing and I'll work on it," Donnie said. He turned to Violet next. "Your mom called earlier, Violet. I think she's looking for you to return home."

Violet nodded sadly, disappointed to have to leave. "I guess I have missed a couple days of school."

"I bet Aunt Suzu could write you a government official school excuse, though," Akito said.

"Really?" Violet asked as she stood.

"Well, you did provide assistance in taking down the resistance group," Akito said with a grin as he stood as well.

"I'll, uh, send her home," Donnie said, holding his hand out for Gabe to take.

Leo stood as well and gave Violet an appreciative hug before she and Akito followed Donnie and Gabe out. He wasn't wearing a belt and was about to toss his new T-phone on the table when it suddenly began vibrating. He glanced at Dr. Rockwell's photo on the caller ID as he answered.

"Hi Leonardo. I'm at your sewer elevator entrance with Leatherhead and Slash. We'd like to have a meeting with you if you're free."

Leo suppressed a sigh. So much for doing absolutely nothing today.

"Sure, we'll be right there," Leo said. He held out a hand and pulled Raphael up from the couch. "Machi, do us a favor and go hang out with Grandpa, okay?"

She thought about protesting. She was pretty sure Akito got to sit in the apartment by himself when he was almost thirteen. But she decided to keep her mouth shut and instead just nodded and followed them out into the hallway. She liked hanging out with her grandfather anyway. He was much funnier than her fathers gave him credit for.

Leo and Raph watched her head up the stairs while they waited for the elevator.

"Now what?" Raph asked in regards to the phone call from Rockwell and watched Leo shrug his shoulders. "Ten minutes and then I'm kickin em out."

Leo grinned at him as the elevator doors opened.

"Leo!" April said and shoved the bags she was holding at Casey so she could jump forward and hug the turtle. "I'm so sorry we missed you last night! We were stuck at the hospital for Shadow. And by the time we got back, Donnie had already texted again to say you weren't up for visitors."

She finally released him and he was able to turn to look at the tiny redhead who stood next to her mother with her arm in a new cast.

"And just what did you do while I was gone, young lady?" he asked Shadow.

"I went left when I should've gone right during a soccer game at school," she said a little sheepishly to her sensei. Knowing him, he'd have some training exercise geared up when she healed to avoid this sort of thing in the future.

"She landed on it when she fell. It's just a small fracture," April said, waving in Shadow's direction. "But you're okay?"

"Of course," Leo said with a quick nod. He glanced at Raphael but found him glaring at Casey.

"Shadow, why don't you see if Machi wants to sign your cast?" April asked.

"She's upstairs with Grandpa Splinter," Leo said.

April took the groceries from Casey as Shadow headed into the stairwell and quickly left him behind as she disappeared into their apartment.

"You don't have to apologize Casey," Leo said, quickly recognizing April's set up as he watched Casey rub the back of his neck with his hand. Leo had always thought of it as a Hamato family trait that marked Casey as one of their own.

"Yes he does," Raph growled.

Leo squeezed Raph's shoulder but continued to speak to Casey. "No, really. Mona is _family_. And you did what any of us would've done to take care of family in that situation."

"That's nice of ya, Leo. But I'm still sorry," Casey offered.

"It's my fault Mona was there in the first place," Leo offered in return. "She made it back okay?"

Casey nodded and couldn't help but grin. "She brought Lenape back with her. Pretty sure she's convinced him to move in."

Leo huffed out a laugh. "Well, then. Everyone's happy."

* * *

After greeting the three Mighty Mutanimals members in the sewer and apologizing for making them wait, Leo and Raph led Dr. Rockwell, Leatherhead and Slash up the elevator and into the dojo.

Leo watched as Dr. Rockwell and Leatherhead stood back while looking expectedly at Slash.

Slash sighed before he began speaking slowly. "Leonardo, I have a confession. I was the one dressing up in the metal suit, leaving criminals tied up in chains for the police."

"What?" Leo and Raph said, simultaneously.

Slash held up his hands in his own defense. "I just wanted to patrol. And my team," he paused and looked over at two of the members, "well, they haven't been as interested in patrolling. So I thought since no one had my back, the suit would help protect me."

"Protect you how?" Leo asked. He held up a hand to stop Slash's explanation. He suddenly didn't care what it was. "Look, I'm not saying don't patrol, but suit or not, you were spotted. You were drawing attention from the media. That's why we went after you. To tell you to stop."

Slash nodded. "I haven't been out since that night you caught me."

"You mean the night you caught me," Leo said.

"The night you gave him a fucking concussion," Raph said with a growl.

"Look," Leo said before Slash could respond and Raphael could get more angry, "to be honest, I could use a break. And Miwa can't actively patrol right now. I want you to head to Hamato headquarters. You two are welcome any time as well," Leo said to Dr. Rockwell and Leatherhead. "Miwa should be there now. I'll send her a message you're coming. If you really want to patrol, then I want you to start training with us. Then you can patrol with us. It'd be nice to know the Hamato ninja are being supported by someone I trust."

Slash met Leo's eyes earnestly. Trust from the Hamato leader wasn't easy to come by, especially for him. "Thank you, Leonardo," Slash said.

"We'll walk him over," Leatherhead offered. Perhaps he and Rockwell could at least look around when they got there.

Raphael remained silent as they rode back down the elevator to walk the group out and he waited till they were gone before he pulled Leo into him for a hug.

"Yer way too damn forgivin."

"Anger doesn't actually hurt others. Only yourself. You know that."

Raph hummed in response. He wasn't quite ready to let go of some of his anger yet.

"Besides, it's like you said last night. It's all over, right? I don't need to walk around with any reminders."

* * *

 **A/N** : And now for some excessive author notes:

I have at least one more chapter planned for this story.

I'm not going to have my notes handy the next time I read through this so I'm just going to throw this out there – based on my math that includes Suzu being about a decade or so older than her sister _and_ based on how old I think her sister might've been when Akito was born _and_ based on the knowledge that Akito is about 17 now, I'm aging Suzu at about 54 years old.

I just have to say, we're 29 chapters and 73,000-ish words into this story and I can't tell you how amazing it feels to have you guys freak out on me because you sense that the story is almost over. THANK YOU for that. You certainly know how to make a writer feel loved.

And since some of you have asked – Yes, this will be the final _long_ story in this series. When I first wrote 'Promise', I had no idea it was going to turn into this entire series. If any of you are thinking about writing, I encourage you to do so. This has been so much fun.

Also, I don't plan on disappearing, although once I get this story finished, I wont be anywhere near a keyboard for about two weeks or so. But my new goal will be to focus on adding some one-shots or _short_ multi-chapter stories based on this series. Fun ideas/events that just haven't fit into the main storyline (kind of like 'Secret', 'Pendulum' or 'Tuxedos' – in fact I'm still planning on writing a 3rd chapter for 'Tuxedos'). So please be on the look out for those in the future.

Otherwise, I'll still be here. _Reading_.

\- Reader115


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: So here it is. The final chapter for this story.

As always, thanks for reading.

* * *

"How bout it Mach?" Akito whispered.

Machi's eyes roamed over the dark storefront. From outside, the inside of the store looked dark and quiet. But her senses had led them here and now that they were mere feet away, she knew they were in the right spot.

She'd spent many hours in meditation over the last year with her father, Akito, Aunt Suzu and Grandpa Splinter. Begrudgingly at first, of course. And sometimes, she'd still complain. But she could also recognize that the mediation exercises were working. And worth it. Her head rarely buzzed in pain with the sensation of oncoming feelings or knowledge.

And as a reward for all her hard work, she was allowed to join Akito's team on patrols about once a month. She knew she had Akito to thank for the privilege, since he was the one who first suggested she join them. However, that didn't mean that she refrained from pointing out to Akito that she was out on patrols at only fourteen years of age, while Akito had had to beg and beg to be allowed to go out on patrols when he was all of sixteen.

And since she was fourteen now, and since it had been at least three months since Aunt Suzu had retired from her job and come to visit, she was no longer buying that Aunt Suzu was still just visiting them in Grandpa Splinter's _guest_ bedroom. Not that she minded, but Aunt Suzu was clearly living with them now. And not in that guest bedroom up there, either. In fact, she was pretty sure that -

"Machi?" Akito whispered, interrupting her thoughts.

Machi refocused her brain towards the electronics store again. It felt a little bit like she could push her eyes into the store, much the way she imagined it felt for Akito to push a blasting energy from his hands.

"Three guys," Machi said.

"Should we split up?"

"No, they're planning on going out the back," Machi whispered back.

"Let's move. _Quietly_ ," Akito said.

Raphael laughed loudly from his position a few blocks away. He was seated on a rooftop ledge with his feet hanging over the side while Leo stood next to him. Leo quickly nudged a knee into Raph's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly, but he continued to laugh anyway.

"He sounds _just_ like you," Raphael finally said.

"I trained him," Leo said, dryly. "What's wrong with sounding like me, anyway?"

"Nothin, babe," Raph said, a big grin still present on his face. "Hey, remember that time you were yelling at us to be quiet and then you _loudly_ fell down like a million stairs -,"

"Raph -,"

"-and right into those bees?"

Leo glared down at Raphael while he continued to listen as Akito directed his group down to street level. Raphael only laughed again and wrapped one of his hands around one of Leo's ankles.

There were strict rules Akito and his team had to follow on the nights that Machi joined them on patrol. The first was that both Akito and Machi had to keep their communicators turned on so Leo and Raph could always listen in. The second was _no complaining_ about Leo and Raph staying within a few blocks of the group at all times. And the third was a much earlier curfew than Akito's group was used to.

Leo had been slightly surprised how quickly and easily their almost eighteen-year old son had agreed to the restrictions. His surprise disappeared, however, on Machi's first patrol as he and Raph listened as Akito not only followed Machi's lead about where the criminals were, but also depended on her to tell them how many they were going to be up against.

This was because Akito had long ago realized what an important asset Machi could be to his team. And he was impressed with his sister's ability because he knew she worked hard to control it. So he did his best to ignore her taunts about how she had been allowed to begin patrolling at an age that was so young compared to his age for his first patrol, and instead focused on her usefulness for the team. He and Violet had even recently begun to run through strategies for how to talk his dad into letting Machi patrol with them more often than just once a month.

And Machi wasn't the only one who had been working hard over the past year. Not only did his blasting energy appear when he was calm and focused now, but he had _almost_ perfected his aim. There was still the occasional slip up. Although, he still wasn't sure it was his fault on that last occasion considering Violet's brother, Midori, had jumped in front of the criminal Akito had been trying to hit. He was pretty sure that should still be counted as pretty good aim since the bad guy still ended up unconscious. At least, that's what he'd tried to explain to his dad when they'd been caught carrying an unconscious Midori home.

And although Akito still preferred to fight using his katana, he had to admit that blasting away a criminal who thought they were going to sneak up on one of his teammates from several feet away felt pretty good too.

Leo's breath hitched suddenly as he felt Raph's fingers begin to trail up his leg. He moved his head slightly so he could get a better view of his emerald turtle and watched as Raphael did his best not to return his gaze while keeping an innocent expression on his face. A shiver ran across Leo's shoulders as those fingers pressed into his calf muscle before trailing slowly up towards the back of his knee and then back down again.

"Raph," Leo growled down to him. "You're supposed to be listening to our children."

"I am listenin," Raph said. He raised his eyes to finally meet Leo's. "What? I can't touch yer leg?"

Leo did his best to glare down at Raph's challenging eyes and teasing grin. The result was Raphael laughing again as he yanked Leo down to sit next to him. He looped his fingers with Leo's fingers and quieted down when Akito's voice sounded again in their ears. The truth was, hearing their children and the bunnies engage in a fight while they weren't physically present was difficult, and he preferred having Leo tucked into him while they listened together.

Although, between Akito's and Machi's special abilities, and the team's combined ninjitsu skills that came from over twelve years of training under Master Leonardo, their clan's next generation always came up victorious. In fact, they rarely even got a scratch or a bruise, which made it much easier for Leo and Raph to just sit and listen.

"Did you pay for the merchandise in those boxes?" Akito asked as the robbers exited the electronics store into the back alley just as Machi had foreseen. Akito stepped out just far enough to allow the robbers to see the outline of someone in front of them as he spoke.

"Beat it," one of the robbers said, pulling a knife to try to scare off the stranger.

Akito smirked as he slowly pulled a katana. He let the streetlight hit the steel as it was pulled from his back so that the man in front of him could see exactly what a real threat looked like.

Leo's fingers tightened around Raph's and he was suddenly thankful that Raph had made him sit down as they listened to the fight that followed.

"You know he smirks when he pulls his katana," Leo murmured.

"So do you."

"I do not," Leo said, sounding offended. "He learned to smirk from you."

"Maybe. But yer the one who sees the entire fight in yer head before you even pull yer weapon. Ya already know yer gonna win. Trust me, ya smirk."

Leo frowned as he considered if Raph's words were a compliment or not until Raph shouldered him and shot him a grin.

They listened for another moment before Raph rolled his eyes and asked, "Did one em just say booyakashaaa?"

Leo slowly nodded his head. "You know, I'm pretty sure we were seven years old when Mikey came up with that word."

"Yeah, because remember he spent almost a week saying _only_ booyakashaaa and we were stuck trying to figure out what he meant by the tone of his voice alone."

"It still haunts me today," Leo murmured back, earning a laugh from Raphael.

They suddenly heard what they were sure was Violet's kusarigama chain before Akito instructed one of the other bunnies to call the police. A few moments later, they could see the group suddenly back up on the rooftops.

"We're heading home," Akito said, mainly for the benefit of their watchful fathers. His group took off in a sprint towards their building before Akito turned to Violet next to him.

"Hey, Vi, my foot was actually in the air to kick that guy when you jumped in and kicked him."

"I know. But I have rabbit feet," Violet easily responded with a smile.

Her smile was wide and Akito fought the urge to smile back since his girlfriend had clearly known he was going to bring this up and had done this purposely to tease him. He knew he was going to regret asking, but he did anyway. "What does that mean?"

"It means your feet are practically dainty compared to mine."

Akito groaned and listened to Violet's brothers snicker behind them.

"Oh come on," Violet said in response to his groan as they landed on the Hamato rooftop. "I get to have a superpower too."

"Fine," Akito said, holding the door open so his team could all head inside. "We'll call _kicking_ your superpower. For now, though, I'm just going to do my best to forget that you called my feet dainty."

"We're home and inside," Machi reported. "Turning off our communicators."

Leo and Raph listened as the excited teens started talking about ordering pizza and watching a movie before the communicators were officially switched off.

Then it was Raph's turn to experience a shiver as Leo's fingers trailed over the back of his neck. A moment later his shell hit the rooftop behind them as Leo climbed on top of him to straddle his lap.

"You're a very bad turtle," Leo said, although he couldn't keep the smile off his face as he looked down at his beautiful mate.

"Yeah, but that's how ya like me," Raph teased back. His fingers returned to Leo's strong legs, which were currently squeezing into his sides and pinning him to the rooftop. He watched as the hard thigh muscles shifted under his fingertips as he pressed into them. His eyes traveled up to Leo's face and he lifted his hips to rub against Leo when he saw how dark Leo's blue eyes suddenly were.

Leo's response was an immediate churr as he quickly dipped his head to kiss Raphael and to begin a steady rhythm of rubbing his lower plastron against Raph's. Raphael moaned into their kiss and let his fingers trail from Leo's legs over to his slit where they became increasingly more insistent until Leo dropped down for him.

"Ya can't resist my fingers, Leo," Raph teased.

"You have something else I can't resist, Raphie," Leo said. He slowly let his fingers trail up and down Raph's tail and let his fingers tease over Raph's entrance on the upstroke.

Raphael immediately dropped down as well as a growling churr rolled up his throat. Any dirty talk coming out of his mate's still innocent-looking face completely undid him. Every. Single. Time.

"Ya plannin on claimin me on this roof, Leo?" Raph teased before he released another churr as one of Leo's fingers pressed into his entrance. He suddenly felt like an old man as he realized he couldn't remember the last time he and Leo had had any fun like this _outside_.

"Yes," Leo purred back at him, "unless you want to go back to our apartment full of teenagers?"

"No," Raph husked out. "This roof is fine. This is my new favorite rooftop."

Leo laughed and then quickly covered Raphael's mouth again with his own. He twisted his tongue around Raphael's tongue and continued their kiss even as he removed his fingers and adjusted himself so that Raph's legs could spread wider and allow him to push his hard length into Raphael's body. He listened to Raph's groans and churrs, each noise an encouragement to move faster. To thrust deeper. He did as Raph's body asked until they were both frantically moving together towards a finish that had Leo biting into Raphael's neck and Raphael cursing up at the stars.

Leo released Raphael's neck after a few moments but didn't move otherwise. Instead, he just happily basked in the heat coming off the emerald body beneath him.

"Hey, Leo," Raph murmured as he nudged Leo's shoulder. He wasn't sure how long they'd been lying there like that but he knew Leo wasn't asleep.

Leo hummed in response but didn't move so Raph nudged him again.

Finally Leo lifted his head and met Raph's eyes. Raph smiled at the soft, satisfied expression in Leo's blue eyes.

"I love livin life beside you, Leonardo."

A dorky grin appeared on Leo's face and he reached a hand up to cup one side of Raph's face. "Love you, Raphie."

"Aishiteru," Raph murmured before pulling his mate's face back down for another kiss.

* * *

A/N: If you'd like to read more stories related to this series, I have been posting one-shots under the story name: "Promise Series Side-Stories". They're mostly fun, although sometimes serious, stories in no real chronological order. They're a lot of fun to write and sometimes allow me to fill in plot holes with ideas that didn't fit into the main stories. I hope you enjoy them as well.


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